Watch Over Me
by robinh
Summary: Someone has a target mark painted on the forehead. The team will have to protect one of their own. Set some time at the beginning of the third season.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I do not own Hawaii five 0. I wish I would though... so I can fix some crucial aspects.

This fic starts around the beginning of the third season, probably after the episode with Steve and Danny's deep water fishing adventure. This is my first attempt with the third season, with all its nonsense...

I want to thank **kimson10 **for the idea and the inspiration for this fic. This one is for you. I really hope you'll like what I'm doing with it.

It starts a little heavy, but will get momentum, gradually. Please tell me what you think.

OK, let's go!

* * *

"Chin and Kono are here."

"Keep them outside. I don't want her in here."

"Ok, I'll try."

"Don't try, Danny. If she tries to get in here, arrest her. I'm not kidding."

()()()

She has a bad feeling when they get the call and they are headed towards the much too familiar address. She has a bad feeling when they get there, and there are at least five police cars, three ambulances, and two vans from the ME office at the premeces. She gets a worse feeling when she sees Danny's face as he stands at the big entrance, signaling them to stop. When he looks at her with a worried expression and asks her to stay outside, she is already fucking terrified.

She walks in, despite of Danny's desperate pleading, forcefully shaking his arm, when he tries to physically stop her. When she runs in to the house, she sees Max talking to Steve right above Adam Noshimuri's body, and she gasps as she sees the amount of blood. When Steve hears her, he turns sharply towards her and shouts "get the fuck out of here!" and initially, she can't understand what he wants. When she looks up at him, mortified, he already has a firm hold on her arm, as he drags her out of there. She crashes on the ground in front of the house, and throws up.

()()()

It takes her ten minutes to get her bearings, and to step tentatively back into the house. The rest of her team are there, looking at her worriedly, but at least, this time, nobody shouts.

The bodies are all covered, after the pictures had already been taken, and the ME assistants are preparing them for transfer. There are fifteen dead bodies in total. It looks like a massacre in there.

"Are you OK cuz?" Chin asks gently, walking towards her and putting his hand on her shoulder. She only nods silently, looking at the massive destruction and the blood.

She sees Steve looking at her with suspicion, and she tries to straighten her posture and to clear her voice. He scans her face carefully before he is somewhat satisfied, and continues with the assessment of the scene.

"We have fifteen dead bodies." He says to the rest of them, indicating towards the body bags "ten look like Yakuza members, with the right tattoos and the right suits. The other five, are unidentified." He doesn't really have to summarize it again, and she realizes he's doing it just for her benefit. She listens carefully, trying to focus on his face when he talks, because she's so grateful for the way he ignores her momentary weakness, and for his ability to compartmentalize like this. She tries to do the same, and mimic his professional attitude, she realizes, again, what a great leader he actually is. She draws strength from his clear and authoritative voice, and from his familiar stance and his usual air of command. She notices how he looks at her from the corner of his eye, pulling her gradually back into the conversation.

"I think we can exclude an accident, as a cause of death" Danny mumbles, looking at the bodies being carried away.

"Maybe a gang war, or a business conflict...?" Steve asks.

"You saw the wounds on some of these vics" Chin says "it's way too violent for a fight over turf."

"This is way to extensive for a usual disagreement " Danny grumbles indicating to the damage around the house."

"It looks like revenge" Kono says.

()()()

"Can you do this?" he asks when they stand near Chin's car, after they finish to go over the murder scene, without actually making any progress.

"It's fine, boss" she says, looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Look Kono, I know you and him had a..."

"He walked out of my life a few weeks ago. It's fine, Steve. You can trust me" she says it quickly, trying to convey her sincerity. "He was caught up in a very cruel and unforgiving world, and although we tried, we were over, eventually" she adds, when he looks unconvinced. "I can handle it, I swear. If anything, I can probably help you in this..."

He looks at Chin with a questioning look, and she knows this look immediately, he has it when he feels uncertain or worried. She resists the temptation to look at Chin and plead for his support, trying to show her confidence. It works, apparently, because when Chin nods to him, he quickly makes his decision and sends them to HQ to go over the photos.

()()()

She is able to identify seven of Adam's men. Two of them served as his personal bodyguards and she saw them in some of their meetings, five more, are familiar enough for her to be able to find their identity from the HPD archive and connect them to the Yakuza. Two more victims except of Adam, are assumed to be Yakuza members as well. They make this assumption due to their tattoos and their over whole appearance, but they are unaccounted for in the HPD files, so Chin sends their pictures to the Interpol and the to the Japanese police to try and make an identification. The other five are definitely not Yakuza. Chin is doing a search for them in the regular database. They work on this puzzle for hours, and she tries to stay focused and to be invested in the task at hand. Only... Adam's pictures are there with all the rest, and the severity and brutality of the attack on him is no less than overwhelming. She feels the bile rising up in her throat, and she has to breathe it away, and to shake the tears too, when it all threatens to drown her. The mere fact that she can actually do her job, is a good enough proof of her being over him, at this point. If she was still feeling as she was, a few weeks ago, she wouldn't be able to do the work at all. When, after only a couple of hours, she is able to scroll through his pictures, in a relatively detached way, she starts to wonder if her feelings for him were ever real.

()()()

They make some progress with the rest of the victims. Among the remaining five, three are accounted for in the HPD archive, but they have no identified affiliation to any crime organization. They still work on the details when Steve and Danny are back from the lab with new information.

"It was a shootout" Danny says, when they get in and they all gathered around the smart table.

Steve gives Kono a flash drive from the lab. When she uploads the photos of the bodies, he explains his theory.

"The shots are different" he explains, going over the photos "9 millimeters to the Yakuza victims and 42 millimeter to the three of the remaining five, it's compatible with the Yakuza weapons, we've recovered from the scene. Charlie is still working on the bullets, but after counting the hits, in the bodies and around the house, we can estimate there were at least four more weapons involved."

"So" Danny says, moving his arms and gesturing at the computer screen "basically we are speaking about a coordinated attack against the head of the Yakuza. The attackers sustained at least three casualties, but there were no survivors among the Yakuza members. We have unknown number of shooters at large, and we still don't know what caused this brutal assault. I mean, who the hell did Adam piss off?"

They all look at Kono, and she looks back at them in irritation. "What are you looking at me for?" she says to the three of them "how the hell should I know? I haven't seen the guy in almost a month."

"He was going on frequent business trips, wasn't he?" Chin asks her quietly "you said he was trying to legitimate his father's organization. Do you know where?"

"I honestly have no idea" she sighs "I'll have to get his travel information from the airport database."

"You'll do that." Steve says, already back in gear "Danny, Chin, I want to check the addresses of the three vics we identified." When the three of them start towards the exit, he shouts "Kono, call me with anything you find."

()()()

They get to the first address, and make a thorough search, but find nothing. It's a small apartment humbly furnished, and they can't even find any personal items there. The place is untidy, but there is an accumulation of dust on the furniture and it looks like no one was living there for a while. The second address is practically similar, it's when they get to the last place, when they make a real progress.

The last address is a larger house, in the edge of the neighborhood, with a big high fence obscuring it from the street. They make their breach in the regular fashion, and start clearing the house, when Danny shouts to them from the upper level. They find Danny standing in the bathroom, examining a dead body that lies on the floor. The whole place is covered with blood, and it looks like the guy was trying to get to a first aid kit, which is spilled on the floor beside him.

"I think we found one of the missing shooters" Danny says, as he's scanning the room around him. "I can see at least two sets of foot prints around him."

Before Steve has the chance to answer, his phone rings.

"Boss," he hears Kono's voice on the other side of the line "just got a call from the Japanese police liaison. They had a call from the Noshimuri estate in Osaka, earlier."

"What kind of call?" he says with increasing sense of unease. She sounds tensed. He has a real bad feeling about it, suddenly.

"A report of shooting inside the mansion, from one of the neighbors" she spits quickly "Steve. They found the whole family murdered in there. Adam's brother, his wife. Steve... they found their three children dead, too..."

"Steve" Chin shouts from the other room. He turns around still holding the phone listening to Kono's voice. "Steve. Get over here, now." Chin's voice sounds uncharacteristically tensed, almost desperate.

"Hold on, Kono" he says to the phone, walking quickly after Danny to the next room. When he gets there, he sees a big board covering the entire wall, with ,many many pictures of Adam and his companions. There are descriptions of Adam's travels and cars. There are the restaurants he goes to. There are pictures of him meeting business associates, and family, and friends. There are red marks around the heads of few of them, and they recognize three of the marked people from the morning's still unidentified Yakuza victims. There are similar marks around Adam's family, and the pictures are taped near the Osaka map. It looks like a very precise and organized plan. A plan that took weeks, even moths to prepare. They move their eyes all over the wall, in silence. When Steve looks at Chin with a questioning look, he sees him holding the edge of the desk, breathing deeply trying to regain control.

"_What's wrong?_" Steve's question intermingles with the exact same question which comes from Kono that is still on the line.

Chin only indicates to the lower side of the wall in front of him. There are three pictures there, of Adam and Kono. One of them sitting in a restaurant, one in the Hilton, and the third shows them hugging in front of Kono's house. All three of them look shell-shocked at the photos. When Chin hands Steve a fourth one, and it's a picture of Kono, at the sea, with her surfboard, and when he sees the red mark around her head, it's enough to raise his panic level to the roof.

()()()

"Stay there" he shouts to the phone "close the doors. Hold your gun. Don't let anyone in, until we get there." He starts running towards the car.

"What the fuck, Steve..." she argues.

"Did you hear what I say?" he cuts her off "will you just follow my orders, for once in your life?"

"Even if you're out of your fucking mind?"

()()()

They run outside and Danny is calling HPD and asks them to send a a police car to the entrance to Five-0, to keep visitors out. Chin is calling forensics and crime scene investigations, to come and start processing the house. Steve makes at least twelve traffic violations on their frantic drive back to her, and it's the first time Danny doesn't mind.

()()()

When they get there, they find her confused and angry. When they get out of the elevator she's standing behind the main wall and pointing her gun towards them. He has to admit, he has that warm, fuzzy, satisfied feeling, when he sees her obeying his orders like that.

He lets Chin explain what they found, while Danny and him go over the pictures she got from the Japanese police. If they thought the morning's findings at Adam Noshimuri's house was terrifying, than these pictures are telling a far more gruesome story. Among the victims are women and children. They look at each other with solemn expression.

"Someone is cleaning house" Danny mumbles, as Steve looks at him thoughtfully. They both wonder, what the fuck are they up against?

()()()

"What do you mean, I'm a target?" he raises his eyes to Kono's words.

"You were photographed with Adam, and identified as a target." Chin explains patiently. Again.

"I had nothing to do with Adam for the last month." she exclaims, looking at Steve and Danny in bemusement.

"You were followed" Chin continues "they had a picture of you near your house, and another one, on the beach."

"What does it mean, Chin?" she cries, stepping away from him, shaking her hands in front of her, as if she is trying to deny his suggestions.

"It means" Steve says from behind the smart table, as he pulls out his phone "it means, that I'm calling the US marshals."

()()()

It takes a few hours, with Steve buried in his office making calls to the governor, and the US marshals, arranging her protection plan. She stays in the main room, exchanging furious looks with Chin who refuses to listen to her arguments, and notifies her that she's not getting out of his sight. She can see he is mad. She can see the little tensed pull around his eyes each time he looks at Adam's photo, and the way he looks at her accusingly. They had this conversation before. For crying out loud, she dumped the guy, probably also because of the way he thought about him. She swears, if he dares say 'I told you so' she's gonna strangle him with her bare hands.

Danny is the only one who acts in a rational manner. He takes her aside and shows her the photos he took of the second crime scene, in the house. He shows her the photos and the red marks, and explains what they saw, and how they felt. He holds her hand, when she shakes her head at the images, and makes her laugh when he says "Chin and Steve are way too emotional, you have to cut them some slack..."

()()()

When her "over emotional" team leader comes out of his office, she has already uploaded Danny's photos to the computer, and the new photos from the crime scene are already in the archive. Chin is pushing her to try and identify the people in the pictures, but she can't. She usually met Adam in privacy, seldom with his personal body guards. He kept his business to himself, and kept everything secret. It was one of the more degrading things in their relationship. The thing that ended it, eventually. Admitting it again, to herself, and to her teammates, is even more degrading, if you ask her.

"I got a safe house for you." He notifies her.

"A safe house?" he must be joking.

"Well... more like a safe apartment, really..." he admits reluctantly.

"I'm not going to any safe house" she exclaims, looking at Danny with a mortified expression.

"_The hell you aren't_" it's Steve and Chin who say it together.

"Don't look at me, babe" Danny shrugs, folding his leg over his knee, and putting his hands behind his head "he stopped listening to me ages ago..."

()()()

He doesn't let her go home to take her things. He sends Chin to do that instead. She stands in the middle of HQ and lists out loud all the things she needs, making sure to emphasize things like swimsuits, make up and a very long list of women appliances and sanitary articles she doesn't even need just to make them see how absurd the whole thing is, and make them feel embarrassed. Chin only arches an eyebrow at this, and Danny smiles, seeing exactly what she is trying to do. The both of them were married, so they probably know about these things even more than she does, when she looks at Steve, he looks at her with that blank expression, and she suspects he has no idea what she's even talking about.

()()()

She refuses to call her mother to explain the situation. She can see Steve and Danny looking at her accusingly, like she's being spiteful, only she doesn't. Honestly. If they only knew her mom, they would have definitely see her point. She suggests that Chin will be in charge of the update to her family, but he gently refuses, and they all look at Steve, who has enough of this stupid discussion, and takes her phone to finally make the call. He remains glued to the phone, for the next twenty minutes, and she can see his anxiety level rises by the second, as he gets more and more acquainted with her... let's say... somewhat atypical mother.

"Hey, Steve, are you all right, babe?" Danny asks as his partner is off the phone, looking a bit dazed, and out of synch.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine..." he mumbles unconvincingly "just had a terrible flashback of my old sergeant..."

"You too...?" Kono huffs, shaking her head in disappointment "and you call yourself a Navy SEAL..."

"You got it easy" Chin tells him, as they all walk towards the elevator "you could have found yourself talking to her father..."

()()()

Danny is going to the lab to get the results from the first murder scene, and to catch up with the findings from the second one. Chin is off to her house to bring her stuff, and she goes with Steve to the safe house. When they get there, it's a relatively large, one bedroom apartment with a large, fully furnished living room. It has a big kitchen and a large nice dining area, and it has big windows, with long, heavy white curtains. At the end of a short hall, there's a pretty large bedroom with a nice comfortable bed, and a big closet, and a bathroom attached, with an actual tub, a big counter and a mirror. It looks luxurious. Certainly ranks higher than her own little house. The building itself is nice too, a really high quality place, with a doorman and a nice lobby facing the street. The safe house is situated in the second floor, at the end of the hall, close to the stairs and to the elevators. She looks around her, satisfied. She can certainly do this, for a while.

"Right." she looks around her, swinging her arms from side to side "so I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow..."

"What do you mean?" he looks at her curiously.

"What do you mean, what do I mean?" she asks in trepidation "you're not..."

"We'll have three shifts" he explains in his usual decisive way "Danny will take the mornings, as he has Grace to take care of, Chin will take the evenings because I need him to handle the computer during the day, and I'll take the nights."

"I don't need babysitting, Steve. You are overreacting..."

"You're having 24 hours protection, and you're not getting out of this house, until I say it's safe to do so." he crosses his arms on his chest looking at her sharply. "This is _not_ a discussion." He adds, in case she was wondering. Which, seeing him, she actually wasn't.

"But... But... What about work?" she asks in alarm.

"I'll get you a secured computer connection here, in a few days, so you can make yourself useful, but until I know you are safe, you are not going anywhere."

"You must be joking" she looks at him in shock.

"I've never been more serious in my life!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you for your kind words, and for reading and following this fic. Still a lot of questions, so let's go on with the show...

Thanks to my darling D, who shares my total adoration to "dick flicks". _Yeepikayeah_!

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

When Chin gets to the safe house, he can hear their heated argument from behind the door. He rests his head on the wooden door in front of him, and tries to fight the urge to turn around and let Steve handle his cousin on his own. Unfortunately, he is not the one to avoid conflicts. On the contrary, he is usually the one to calm everybody down, and help them see things from another perspective. He is always able to resolve the differences in a balanced and leveled way. Only, he is anything but calm these days, and for the life of him, he can't see any of these recent events in a balanced and leveled way. If Kono will make it difficult for Steve, he will probably help him cuff her to the wall, and gag her over active, rude and rebellious mouth.

When he opens the door, there's a high chance he will have to do exactly that. Both of them are standing in the middle of the big living room, glaring furiously at each other. He drops the two bags with her things, on the floor, and waits for the shouts.

"You need me, Steve. How do you expect to solve this case with two members of your team tucked away in a safe house?"

"This case is way too big for Five-0, and you know it. We will run point, naturally, but there's simply no way we'll manage it without HPD. This is why I can't have you exposed like this. Too many people involved. Someone might talk, and you'll be found."

She looks at Chin, and sees him nodding with silent affirmation. "Fine" she says in resignation, "then why paralyze another one of your team members? have the US Marshals do their job..." she really doesn't like it, but she starts to realize that the sooner they'll solve this miserable case, the sooner she'll be free.

"Did you _see_ the US marshals? they are practically moving targets. They will stand out on this island like a neon sign saying '_witness protection'_. No way. They were useless with my mom, and I'm not risking using them again, with you."

"Steve, honestly..." she looks at the both of them with a desperate plea "Chin... surly you can't..."

"You'll do what he says, Kono" Chin says sharply, stepping threateningly towards her.

"You're both crazy" she shouts "you, with your guilty conscious" she points at Steve "...and you with your recent... god! I'm not Malia, Chin. I can take care of myself."

"You're not Malia!" he shouts. It's so unexpected they all look shaken by this sudden outburst "God damn right, you're not. I'm not going through this again, did you hear me? You'll do what Steve says, or I swear I'll..." he stops himself just before he says anything even more uncharacteristic for him, and she looks at him with big brown eyes, startled by the amount of pain she sees in his bloodshot eyes.

There's a tense silence in the room as Kono looks at her cousin, with tears welling up in her eyes, and Chin just stands there silently, trying to suppress his trembling.

"OK..." Steve says finally, breathing deeply as he looks at his two emotional team members. "Kono, you know what the plan is. It's just a temporary measure, until we know what's going on. Chin, she will listen to me, because if she wouldn't, she'll have me, you, and as I gathered, both of her parents, all over her sweet little ass. Can we let it go now, and just stick with the plan?"

"I'm sorry, Chin" she cries suddenly, running towards him and hugging him tight.

"I'm sorry, too..." he whispers, as he hugs her back.

"OK then..." Steve says, looking at the both of them with apparent unease, desperately trying to find something useful to do, "and I thought _my family_ was a pain in the neck..." he mumbles to himself.

()()()

"Now he comes!" Steve spits towards Danny, when the guy enters the apartment a few minutes later, carrying two paper bags filled with food "where the fuck were you the first time I actually need you and your touchy feely mumbo-jumbo?"

"I brought food, you're welcome" he looks curiously around him "What happened?"

"We had a little family crisis, but I fixed it." He looks at the cousins with an air of satisfaction. They are still holding each other, and they both roll their eyes at his statement.

"You fixed it now did you, Dr. Phil?"

"Yup" he says, taking the takeaway bags from Danny's hands "I really think I'm starting to get the hang of this shit..."

()()()

They have dinner together, and they all sit and listen to Danny's update from the lab and HPD. They have a positive identification of eight Yakuza members, including Adam Noshimuri. There is also a basic identification of three shooters out of the five bodies found in the first scene. The sixth body from the house is still unidentified. Finger prints were not helpful, and DNA is pending. Danny was able to call the Interpol and the Japanese police, but with the first he was still fighting red tape, and the second, well, they are quite busy with their own version of the case... They make a decision to focus on the three shooters, and to look for connection between them and other crime organizations. The whole thing looks very professional. They have a sense they will have to look deeper into Adam Noshimuri's business, to make a real progress.

"Ok. From now on, nobody comes to this apartment out of schedule." Steve says to the three of them, when they are done with the debriefing, and are finishing with their food. "This is a regular apartment, with neighbors and a doorman. I want things to look normal, as much as possible, and I don't want anyone to get unnecessarily curious. The doorman knows to call if anyone but the three of us, tries to get inside or asks about the apartment. He's a retired police officer, he knew my father, and I trust him. Apart from him, we should try not to make noise. No one should suspect something strange is going on."

"You mean, apart from the fact that I'm a young woman who regularly entertains three different guys in her apartment? let me tell you, boss... people will talk..." she smiles, and as he looks at her dumbstruck for a minute, Chin and Danny are practically bursting with laughter.

"She's right" Danny says, trying to suppress his joy "they gonna call vice on her, for ruining the morality and propriety of the neighborhood."

"Precisely" Kono says mockingly "and I don't want them to talk about me like that, I'm a very respectable woman, you know..."

"I actually want to hear him explain _this_ to your mother..." Chin smiles towards her. It actually makes all three of them to laugh even harder.

"You are all fucking hilarious." Steve says in annoyance, as he stands up from the table and starts clearing the plates. "You are here every morning" he points to Danny "you'll be her working partner, you are both... emmm... interior decorators. Yeah. You work from home, so now we have the perfect excuse to bring in some computers and stuff." He points to Chin "you are her brother, your wife kicks you out, _frequently_. So you're here all the time. Your hours are flexible, so we can work around that. I'll have the doorman spread the rumors around among the neighbors, he'll be good for that."

"What about you?" she asks curiously, apparently he can think on his feet, she'll give him that.

"Me?" he shrugs, as he takes the plates to the kitchen "I'll be your boyfriend, obviously."

When Steve disappears behind the wall, she looks questioningly at Chin, "it could work" he tells her shruggingly. When she looks at Danny, with a similar question, he already shoots himself out of his chair, and runs after Steve to the kitchen.

"Why do I have to be an interior decorator..." they hear him complain.

()()()

It's much later that night, when Danny and Chin are already gone, and Kono is settled in her room, after taking a shower, that he finds himslef stnading at the window, looking out. The apartment is located at the back of a small alley, there's hardly any traffic, and he looks down at the abandoned street, as he's reassessing the events of the day. His expression is solemn and brooding, as he tries to methodologically go over every single detail, and make sure all the angles are covered. He is so preoccupied with his thoughts, he doesn't even hear her until she is standing right next to him. When he suddenly senses her presence, and turns around with a questioning look, he sees her looking at the street, too. She stands there silently. Her arms crossed, and she's clutching her shoulders. There's a sad look on her face and he realizes, this is the first time she shows any indication of the impact the events of the day had on her. He smiles internally, at her constant struggle to show how strong and resilient she is. It's completely unnecessary, she had proven herself multiple times in the past, not to mention, it's actually a pain in the neck, when she's getting so hard headed and stubborn like that. It's stupid, but he secretly likes it. He hates to admit it, but she actually reminds him of himself...

"Can't sleep?" he asks gently, looking at her slender form, silent and tall beside him. She wears only her shorts and a little tank top. She looks beautiful.

"Not really..." she mumbles "you?"

"Same" he sighs, scratching his face "want to watch a movie or something?" he asks, indicating to the big TV in the middle of the room.

They sit on the big white sofa, and Steve zaps through the channels looking for something decent to watch.

"Thank you for earlier" she says quietly "you know... with Chin..." she is sitting right next to him, and her arm touches his, as she speaks.

"No problem" he says quickly, still looking at the TV screen.

()()()

"Hold on, leave it there."

"Why? what is it?"

"It's _Die Hard_! only the greatest fucking movie ever made..."

"You're kidding." he looks at her in amazement "you like _Die Hard_?"

"Of course I do, are you serious? Bruce Willis, a totally kick Ass New York cop, fighting German terrorists, jumping off buildings and shooting like a crazy person... It's fucking awesome. I can't believe we don't have beer."

"We're _not_ having beer in this house. We're in the middle of a_ mission_." he notifies her, looking with confusion at the way she is hooked to the screen "aren't you supposed to like other kinds of movies?" he wonders.

"Other kinds of movies? what are you talking about? this is a really great movie, how can you not like it?"

"I like it, of course I do. It's fucking brilliant" he says with annoyance. This discussion shouldn't be going like this at all "you're a girl, aren't you supposed to like the... I don't know... _The Notebook_, or something similar?"

"_The Notebook_?" she shrieks in disgust "what kind of a girl are you? why would I like that stupid movie? It's packed with all the most obvious clichés, its only purpose is to make stupid high school girls cry. I mean, what Kind of pathetic girl waits for a fucked up guy for seven years?"

"So you did watch it..." he grumbles. This is getting more and more annoying. He couldn't describe that stupid chick flick better, himself.

"My cousin Lily took me to see it. I had to escape during the intermission, pretending to go to the bathroom. I just stood there and watched all the crying girls fixing their makeup in front of the mirror. It was a complete disaster" she shakes her head at this painful memory. "Now, will you stop with _The Notebook_ already, and just concentrate on this piece of art that I'm presenting you with? look, he is fighting all of them, without any shoes."

"You do realize _no proper soldier_ will throw a decent pair of shoes, even if they don't fit, right? I mean, he has a knife for Christ's sake, he can adjust them, or something. The first rule in any combat, you have to protect your feet..." he says it all animated and decisive. She only half listens, watching Bruce Willis running around with his gun on the screen.

"Shut up" she nudges him, laughing "you're completely ruining it..."

They watch the movie in silence. It's a really good movie, he always liked it. When it's over, and the end titles are running on the screen, he looks at her and sees that she'd fallen asleep. He turns off the TV, and carries her effortlessly, to the bedroom. She is so exhausted, she doesn't even wake up. When he puts her on the bed, and tucks her in, he fights the urge to smell her hair that is spread around her on the pillow. He turns off the light, and goes to lie down on the sofa. "This is so fucking bad, and on so many levels..." he whispers to himself in the dark.

()()()

They get the information from the Japanese police. The unknown Yakuza members are a high level functions in the Noshimuri organization. One of them is Adam's uncle, the other, a one of the key operatives, or as they are called, _advisors_, in the hierarchy of the organization. They came from Japan three weeks ago, and stayed at Adam's mansion.

"Why did they come?" Steve asks as he and Chin stand around the smart table, trying to assess the new information. "Was he trying to get out, and this was the pressure group who came to prevent it?"

"If they came to convince him to stay in business, why are they dead?" Chin shrugs.

"We need to know who is still active in the Yakuza. If everybody were targeted, who has control now?"

"I agree" Chin nods "the one who takes over, after the Noshimuries, will be our immediate suspect."

()()()

He leaves Chin to talk to the Japanese police, again, as he heads back to the lab. When he finds Charlie, the guy has some good news for him.

"Your mystery man has a name." Charlie tells him when he enters the room. "The guy you found dead in the second house is John Kaiwi. The DNA came back, finally, and he even has a record. He has multiple charges for armed robberies and assaults, from the last ten years or so. The strange thing is that his record in the last year is completely clean. He wasn't in jail during that time, I've checked."

"Interesting. Could have gone abroad or something, I'll have Chin work on that. Any known associates?"

"I'm still looking, but nothing jumps out. I sent his details to HPD, and to the mainland. They'll get back to you if they find anything."

"Good. Good." Steve nods in satisfaction "any other information from the house?"

"Not yet." Charlie sighs "look Steve... I saw Kono's pictures from the scene..."

"Don't worry, Charlie" he says quietly "I've got it all under control. She's safe."

"I'll be working on it nonstop" Charlie says seriously "off hours, too."

"Thanks, Charlie" Steve says, turning to leave the lab "I really appreciate it."

"One more thing Steve" Charlie calls after him. "There are two more targets on the board from the second house, which we have no bodies to connect them to."

"Any idea who they are?"

"No idea. But apart from... you know... they are the only ones who are not Yakuza. I mean, they're not even Asian..."

"Can you...?"

"Already in the system, and I'm sending it to your phone right now."

"Thanks, Charlie" Steve says, before leaving the lab.

()()()

They have a debrief in HQ, and they have Kono and Danny on the phone too. Chin was able to talk to the head of the organized crime unit in Osaka, and it looks like there are new forces in the local Yakuza gang there. There's a new player, named Takeo Nakahara. In the recent years, he had gradually became the strongest person in the local organization. He has a large capital, and he is very respected. He has tight connections with the strongest political figures of the nation. He is young, and ambitious, and he is slowly building his way up. Chin thinks, he has a good motive, to try to get rid of Adam Noshimuri's local organization, and family ties. They all keep their silence after Chin is explaining all of this, all are trying not to state the obvious.

"It means, that if he killed Adam, he looked at him as a threat." Kono's voice is heard through the phone. "It means, Adam was not leaving the organization, he was trying to strengthen it..."

"It's a safe assumption, babe" Danny says. They can all hear the way he says it, tenderly.

"The Yakuza leadership is very complex" Chin explains. "They are very hierarchic in nature, and each group answers to a specific leader. After Hiro Noshimuri disappeared from the scene, his power and respect was gone with him. Adam had two options, to turn on his family, and on his men, or to try and gain the same respect his father had, running the local group. When he failed to do both, he was a fair game to the next boss in line. With the amount of capital and the pull of the organization, I don't think he ever had a real chance in getting out."

"So basically, Adam's men who died with him, were loyal to him, and were punished. The other two Japanese visitors are part of Adam's organization, who chose him, and paid the price." Steve adds.

"Why use non Yakuza shooters then? if they wanted to execute him, and kill everyone..." Kono asks quietly "could it be a trick? maybe they try to make us concentrate on the Yakuza connection, instead of on something else?"

"I think it's because Adam was too powerful in Hawaii" Chin says thoughtfully "they had to bring people who knew the territory, who knew what's going on here, and wouldn't be easily noticed."

"Still, it's not like the Yakuza to use outsiders, to do their dirty work" Danny says.

"According to the records, John Kaiwi disappeared from the island about a year ago." Steve says "and this is also true to the other three. I think they were all new recruits, possibly recruited specifically for this job."

"You think this operation was planned for as long as a year" Danny asks in surprise.

"Yes. I think they started it when Hiro was taken by Wo Fat. Takeo Nakahara had to show his ominous power, by eliminating the family all together. I think this is why they have targeted Kono. She was identified as Adam's girl."

()()()

He sends Chin to the safe house, with a few computers and other high tech equipment, to get Kono settled for the rest of the investigation. He leaves Danny at HQ to go over the reports from the scenes and from Japan, as he goes to meet the HPD chief, for more coordination, and comprehensive assessment of the investigation. It all takes hours and hours, but finally he has it all done. When he feels like he has everything under control, he goes to his home to pick up a few things for his stay at the safe house. When he gets there, he finds Catherine sitting on the door step.

"Hi" she smiles at him "is your phone broken?"

"What?!" he looks at the phone in alarm "no" he breathes in relief "it's good..."

"You're not picking up" she tells him, as she stands up and puts her arms around his neck, kissing him gently on his lips. "We had a date today, remember?"

"Shit..." he holds his forehead. He completely forgot. Yeah... He wasn't really answering her calls, because... obviously... he had other things on his mind. Like... work, and... Kono's life, and the way she looked so adorable last night, in her sleepwear... "I'm sorry, Cath. I had a crazy day" he says, trying really hard to sound sincere.

"That's not a problem" she smiles, stroking his chest "want to buy me dinner, instead?"

"Actually I can't..." he mumbles, trying to step around her and get into the house "I have... a thing. I need to get going immediately. A rain check?" he flashes her his most alluring smile.

"Sure. Why not?" She only shakes her head at this "where are you going?"

"Emmm... It's classified."

()()()

He goes to the store, actually, and shops for a week supply. When he finally gets to the safe house he is carrying four bags filled with fresh food and basic necessities. He finds Chin and Kono still adjusting the equipment, and they both look tired and frustrated with the whole tech work it involves. There are still a few more connections to make, and Chin has to bring two more cables and a missing piece of software, so they decide to make a change, and have Chin come in the morning instead of Danny, to complete the installation. It's almost eleven when Chin finally takes his leave, and they can call it a night.

()()()

"Steve, what the hell did you bring me to eat?" she asks, staring blankly at the opened refrigerator. "Are you crazy? this is all just boring, basic, healthy food."

"Of course, it's healthy. You should really start eating better, it's very important" he says seriously, as he stands beside her, looking at the perfectly good food he brought "honsetly, I can't see what's your problem. What did you expect me to bring?"

"No beer, no junk food, not to mention, a chocolate or a fucking ice cream." she pushes him aside, slamming the refrigerator's door in his face "for god's sake Steve, why even bother? just let the Yakuza have a go at me, because let me tell you brah, this life without proper food... what's the fucking point?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**:Thank you all for reading and following, and especially for reviewing this fic.

The third season is getting worse each episode. I'm so annoyed, it's crazy. I'm not giving up on this fic though. Yet... even if it does force me actually watch the episodes... Well, Alex looks great, that's still the main motivation there :)

This fic is slower in pace than the rest of my fic. Third chapter, and no sex yet... (that's a first).

Hope you'll like it.

* * *

"Is it safe to determine that the two other targets were not in the house?" Steve asks the minute he enters HQ, and stands in Danny's office door.

"Good morning to you too, Steven" Danny says politely from behind his desk "and how are you, this lovely morning?"

"What?" he looks at him with irritation "will you just shut up and answer the question?"

"What kind of man are you?" Danny looks at him in disdain "why would you talk to me like that, when I'm the only one, who is even remotely interested in your well being? what is the matter with you?"

"For fuck sakes, Danny, you've read all the reports from the scenes, will you just answer the bloody question?"

"Fine" he grumbles "No. We have no indication for them actually being there."

"We have six dead bodies from the hitting squad. I called Charlie, he counted eight different weapons that were used by the shooters, two of them are missing from the scene. I think we are looking for two more shooters."

"Two is not so bad." Danny says thoughtfully "and we can assume they are on the run, maybe even out of the country by now."

"Only... if there were two more targets in a different location..."

"There might be another killing squad..."

"Three, actually" Steve says, sighing deeply.

"Three killing squads?"

"Three targets..."

"Yeah..." Danny says, noticing Steve's grave expression "and how _is_ our lovely third target anyway, and what the hell did she do, to piss you off like that?"

()()()

"Chin, anything?" Steve asks as he and Danny drive to HPD to bring over all the physical evidences from the murder scenes. He wants Chin to go over it again, and try to reload the pictures to the computer using the high tech capabilities of Five-0.

"No. I've got nothing. I'm running the facial recognition software on the airport's feed, but I got only two of the shooters so far. It'll take hours doing it from here. If we want to find anything before the end of the millennium, I think I'll have to do it from HQ,"

"Shit" Steve shouts, and slams his hand on the steering wheel. The way they are struggling to handle all the assignments, is becoming more and more apparent. "Fine. We'll finish in HPD and drive by the safe house to replace you with Danny." He hangs up the phone, and runs his hand through his hair in irritation.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm fine" he grumbles "it's a hard case, that's all."

"It's not all. I know you. You haven't been sleeping."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Steve looks at him with confusion.

"I know you. You always act a little bit crazier than usual when you don't get your beauty sleep. Why weren't you sleeping? is it Kono?"

"Kon... Danny, what are you saying?" he looks at him, exasperated.

"I'm not suggesting anything" Danny looks at him innocently "I know you're not sleeping with her, I know how you look when you have sex, and believe me, you are much less agitated. Hell, you are practically giddy. I'd bet I can tell you exactly when you have Catherine for a sleep over, just by the way you smile."

"You're lying" he looks at him disbelievingly.

"I'm not. You have sex with her two days a week, usually on Sundays and Wednesdays. It's pathetic, really. You actually have her sleeping with you on a schedule. Do you have a special alarm on your phone to remind you to do it?"

"Shut up" he spits, because, obviously it's true. Catherine's role in his life has become such a matter of convenience, pathetic doesn't even come close to describe it. He wonders if this is why he was holding on to her for so long. He starts to realize that things can be different. Living with Kono, if to take a random example, is already a far cry from his usual stable and well organaized life. He never thought a woman could have so much... _presence_. He can only imagine the sex with her. Only, he shouldn't. Really. This would only cause more problems. Having her sleeping in the next room in a pair of skimpy shorts is enough of a challenge as it is. "I was cooking" he says finally. Better keep Danny away from his inappropriate thoughts, for as long as possible.

"Cooking? in the middle of the night? why?"

"We had... a _disagreement_ regarding the food supply in the safe house. I had to prove my point."

"Of course you did. I'd bet you tried to prove to her that spinach and cauliflower constitute as food."

"Well..."

"It isn't. Not after the age of fifteen. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have a feeling that waking her up in the middle of the night with the clatter of pots and pans did not help your cause either."

"She didn't hear anything" he says smugly "I was very quiet. It's actually possible to relate to food without making _any_ noise. You should really try that sometime."

"I don't believe you. Nobody can cook in silence."

"I'm a SEAL, I can take a small country, without making a sound. Cooking is easy."

"Yes" Danny nods, sending him a dirty look "this all thing you have there with Kono... really sounds _extremely easy_..."

()()()

She spends the entire morning running the images and names of the three shooters in all the data bases she can think of, but she can't even find a trace of connection between them. It's taking ages, and it's boring, and she can't find anything, but she knows, it's her only chance to actually get out of this stupid apartment, and maintain the remnants of her sanity. It's around two o'clock when she suddenly has a brilliant idea, and she tests it immediately, and calls Chin over, to show him what she found. He looks at the data in silence, and then looks at her with his regular appreciative smile. He's impressed.

"Call him." he tells her, as he sits on one of the chairs, crossing his hands behind his head, "if anything, he'll be happy to know you're still talking to him." That's a good point. Especially after her last night's... quite... emmm... _impatient_ behavior. What the hell, she can be civil. Probably.

()()()

"I found something" she tells him when he answers the phone with what sounds suspiciously like a resentful tone.

"What is it?" she can hear the excitement and hope enter his words.

"Why don't you two come, and I'll show you over lunch?" she offers an olive branch "apparently, there's food in the house."

()()()

"Stop the car" Danny tells him when they drive by the store.

"Where are you going?" Steve calls when he hops out of the car.

"I'm saving your ass, and well... probably the team, too. Hold on, _master chef_, I'll be right back."

()()()

When they get to the safe house, and there's a nice meal all ready for them on the dining room table, it's Danny's turn to be impressed. Steve is no less than a magician when it comes to preparing food. He is able create the most sophisticated and delicious dishes from the most basic ingredients. He looks at his partner, as he watches her every move when she makes them all sit at the table, and hands them the plates. It doesn't escape him, how Steve silently follows her with his eyes, when she's smiling kindly at the appreciative noises they all make.

"We've got something for you" Danny says when they all start to attack the food, giving her the little box he brought.

"Coco puffs!" she shrieks with pure joy "thanks Danny."

"It was Steve's idea" he mumbles with his mouth full of the most delicious rice and tuna he had ever tasted.

"Really?" she looks at her boss with surprise.

"It's..." he starts, but Danny's foot is hitting him on the sheen, and he stops.

"Thanks boss" she smiles beautifully at him "you're the best boyfriend, ever."

()()()

"We couldn't find them anywhere, right?" she starts the explanation "all of them had a record in the system, but nothing from the past year or two. Chin wasn't able to find any indication for them leaving the country, at least not from Hawaii, but he _did_ find two of them in airport's public camera feed from about a month ago. The addresses we have were all rentals from the last month. I thought it all looks like they were some kind of a special task force, which came back to the island especially for the job. If this is the case, then everything had to be kept secret, and within the group, right?"

"Right" Steve nods, his arms crossed over his chest. So far it all sounds like a dead end.

"So I assumed it couldn't be random. Choosing the people in the group, I mean. They had to have some kind of connection to each other. A _tight_ connection that was formed here, before they left."

"They were never cell mates." Chin adds from his corner at the second computer.

"Right" she nods, "so I started to look earlier. Dug into their working records, military service, high school, youth groups, baseball and football teams. Nothing..."

"Maybe they were all in kindergarten together" Danny suggests "maybe they were all sent to detention, after drowning the class' pet rabbit?"

"Church" she says, opening the appropriate window on the computer "their families were all in the same congregation."

"We are talking about crazy killers altar boys?" Danny asks in confusion.

"A Japanese church."

"Kono...?" Steve looks at his team member with a questioning look.

"Chin got two more faces from the airport, right next to _our_ two guys" she says in excitement "there are few more suspects with the same ages range, and similar rap sheet from the churches records, but I would start with the two faces we have."

"Kono, that's..." Steve shakes his head in amazement.

"I even have two addresses for you" she smiles mischievously at him "if you want to pay them a visit..."

He only flashes her with the most beautiful smile in his arsenal, reaching for his phone and dialing the number of the HPD chief.

"I think we should keep you alive, babe" Danny says, clapping Chin's shoulders, and looking at his boss with a satisfied grin.

"Let's go Danny." Steve barks behind him, already leaving the room "I'll bring you guys some souvenirs."

()()()

They find the guys in the first address. They go there first, because Kono says it belongs to the most suspicious profile they have, of the two suspects. When they get there and storm the place, they find the two suspects on the second floor, trying to jump out the window. They get them on time, as well as two duffle bags which they have, ready to go. The room they were hiding in is full with shreds of paper and a broken computer. It looks like they tried to discard of some evidences. They both realize, they found them just in the nick of time.

They drag them unceremoniously down the stairs, but maybe the word _throw_ would be a better description. Either way, by the end of the raid, the two suspects are crashed against the living room wall, sporting a few cracked ribs and some massive bloody cuts on their faces. Steve cuffs them so tight, Danny swears he can hear the blood physically clots in their veins.

"Who's your boss?" Steve asks the two shooters. "Who calls the shots?"

They don't answer, don't even look up at him, when he stands there above them.

"Who were your targets?" he shouts as he pulls one of them and throws him against the wall on the other side of the room. The guy only crashes on the floor, groaning with the impact, but says nothing.

"So far this was the easy part" Danny tells them, when they look straight ahead, still ignoring them "next, you get the real treat of getting to spend some time alone with my partner there, in a very small and confined space. Believe me, when he'd be finished with you, you'll be singing. Why don't we all save us all some time, and further bloodshed?"

They don't answer.

"I'm killing one of them" Steve says finally, pulling his gun.

"Excuse me?" Danny looks at him, not sure if he's joking or not.

"I only need one of them to talk..."

"Are you crazy?" Danny cries "you can't treat suspects like that."

"I'm being generous here, believe me. I'll let them choose who." He picks up the second shooter and throws him next to his friend, then he stands in front of them and points his gun at their heads. It looks like he's playing some kind of game, but when Danny looks at his face, he sees a strange crazy light in the metalic blue of his eyes "I'll count to three, and then I'll shoot the silent one. The winner will be the one who gets to see the sun tomorrow, after he tells me who is your next target."

"Steve, you can't..." Danny shouts, but his partner is already deep in the game. He chooses one, the older of the two, and shoots.

()()()

"You are out of our mind, you know that?"

"What the hell is your problem? it worked didn't it?"

"I don't care. This is not the way you conduct a police interrogation. I mean, threatening to execute a guy in cold blood?"

"Danny, for crying out loud, I didn't actually shoot him."

"I know. There is a tiny little reasonable person inside of you, that actually sees sense once in a blue moon."

"I shot next to his head. He fainted from the fear, and... probably the noise, too. I got them right where I wanted them."

"Did you, now?" He spits with irritation "you uninhibited animal."

"The other guy thought I killed him, he couldn't stop talking. You had to stop him twice to write everything down" he cries indignantly.

"Fine" Danny grumbles, looking at the road ahead of them "but still..."

"You're upset because I'm forcing you to write the report, don't you?" Steve looks at him with an arrogant smile.

"Yes" Danny admits "even though I should probably be flattered by the amount of creativity you ascribe to me."

"You are very resourceful, you'll know how to phrase it correctly" Steve dismisses "and anyway you should be grateful, I gave you the easy part."

"The easy part? are you fucking kidding me? the governor will be reading this pile of bullshit."

"Yes, the easy part" he says decisively, all serious and quiet suddenly "_I_ have to go tell Kono what we found out."

()()()

He drives to the safe house, after leaving Danny at HQ to finish the report. They were so preoccupied with the hunt for the two shooters they weren't able to make any progress in regard to the other targets. Chin was with Kono the entire day, and it prevented him access to the main system in HQ. She was right. Having two team members tucked away in the safe house is making everything very complicated. He pulls out near the house, and makes his way to the lobby, when he gets there he sees one of the neighbors stands near the doorman, talking to him. She is a middle-aged woman, dressed in a long blue dress, and holding a small poodle in her arms. He tries to make his way up the stairs, nodding once to the doorman, but the woman stops him before he has the chance to get away.

"You are the new neighbor from 2C, aren't you? what a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Yes" he says dryly. Actually, the pleasure is all hers.

"My name is Beth" she smiles encouragingly, but it doesn't work, as he only stares at her with a blank expression.

"This is Steve" the doorman saves the situation "he and his girlfriend are the new lovely addition to our building."

They shake hands, and Steve is finally able to pull out of his state of catatonia, and to relate to the situation in a relatively rational manner. With the help of the doorman, he is actually able to exchange some pleasantries with her, before he takes his leave. When he opens the door and enters the apartment, and the two cousins look at him with tensed anticipation, he momentarily thinks about going back downstairs to talk to Beth some more.

()()()

"So there's another team" she looks at him thoughtfully.

"A _one man_ team" he clarifies.

"And his entire mission is to find me and kill me?" she states more than asks.

"Yes. You were targeted a month ago, as Adam's girlfriend."

"What about the other two targets?" she asks quickly, but he can see how she tries to conceal the small tremble she has in her voice.

"They have six men team assigned to them, but we have no other information at this point. The teams ran separate operations and intelligence gathering missions, for each target."

"I think I should take a look at that ruined computer, and try to get us some names." Chin ho says at last, getting from the chair and walking towards the door "I'll talk to Charlie in the morning, and see if he can help me with that. It's a progress cuz" he says before he opens the door "It doesn't feel like it, but actually, we have some more information, each and every day."

()()()

They're left on their own, in the quiet apartment, just standing there looking at one another. She looks so tired suddenly, and he sees how the color is gone from her beautiful face. He makes a small step towards her, and reaches with his hand, and she just moves against him and puts her arms around his shoulders. They don't talk, just stand there in the big white living room, holding each other. He can smell the scent of her shampoo, and feel the delicate sensation of her breath on his shoulder, and he lowers his face to her neck, holding her a little tighter. He hopes she can't feel his racing heart against her, but he knows she can probably not only feel it, but hear it, too.

()()()

"Oh yeah" he says after several minutes when they're still held together "I met one of our neighbors."

"You did?" she raises her head and looks at his face with a questioning look.

"Yeah. She's a... I don't know. Her name is Beth. She has this creepy dog, and she thinks it's lovely that a young couple came to live in her beautiful building."

"What did you tell her?" she asks with confusion "I thought we were supposed to be careful."

"I didn't tell her anything" he shrugs "told her our names, and just buggered off."

"You should be careful" she tells him, holding his shoulders and looking anxiously into his eyes "it will be a shame to have me killed on a technicality, after all this hassle."

"I didn't tell her _your_ name, obviously" he rolls his eyes at her "I told her an alias."

"Oh yeah?" she looks doubtfully at him, and he realizes she is still holding his shoulders "which one?"

"Moana" he smiles.

She smiles back, and it's genuine and happy this time "nice. I like it."

()()()

He gets a call from Catherine in the morning, when he's on his way to the car, after being replaced by Danny. Chin is still working on the computer, and it will take him some time. He wants to go back to the two suspects and get some more names from them. After Danny's reaction to his _methods_, he feels he should be doing it alone. He answers the phone with the regular sense of urgency that he has these days, and he is a little surprised to hear her happy and carefree tone.

"Remember that rain check?" she asks in a seductive lilt "guess what? I looked at the weather forecast, no rain today."

"Cute" he smiles slightly "actually Cath, I have quite a lot on my plate..." he starts, watching the building in front of him. When he has a sudden flashback of Kono hugging him last night, it's so strong, he can almost smell her scent again. "Sure" he says decisively, shaking the image away from his brain "why don't I meet you for lunch? shrimps at Kamekona's? it's on me."

"You got yourself a date, sailor" he hears her smile over the phone "I'll see you soon, Steve."

()()()

He finishes his morning with five new names of suspects, and he calls Kono and Chin and tells them to search the databases again. Charlie is still working on some parts from the ruined computer, so Chin has no option but to wait for the technical guys, before he can produce the raw data. He spends about two hours on the phone with the governor, pushing back against the pressure from the US marshals and some other agencies that he had to use in the initial stagrs of the investigation, he is so busy fighting to stay in control of the situation, by the time he goes to pick Danny up from the safe house, and drop him at HPD to plan the full scale men hunt they need, he is so exhausted, he feels like he's practically runing on fumes.

They drive to HPD, when Catherine is texting him again, reminding him of their date. He swears, he almost forgot all about it. Again.

* * *

Moana - Ocean/ the smell of an ocean.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**:Thank you all for reading, following and reviewing this fic. I am so thankful to all your kind words, and some of you actually gave me some awesome ideas and inspiration.

They are still fighting to make some progress with this awful case.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

"Emmm... Danny?" he asks when they drive towards HPD, both in silence, thinking each on his own assignment.

"Yes?"

"Do you... eh... like Catherine?"

"Excuse me?"

"I asked, do you like Catherine?" he says again, in a quite obvious sense of unease.

"Hold on, time out. Let me get this straight, are you seriously asking for my opinion in regard to your girlfriend?!" Danny looks at him incredulously.

"First of all, she is _not_ my girlfriend" Steve answers calmly "and second of all, I _did not_ ask for your opinion, I asked you if you liked her. It's a very simple, dichotomized question. Either you like her, or you don't."

"Dichotomized, ha?" Danny looks at him with contempt "you pretentious pick... first of all, you should know, that to keep saying she is not your girlfriend, does not make her _not your girlfriend_, and second of all, asking someone if they like someone else, actually _does_ considered as asking for their _opinion_..." he says it, punctuating his words with violent hands gestures.

"Fine, forget about it, then..." Steve spits in irritation.

"Fine."

They continue to drive in silence for a few more minutes.

"She's pretty" Danny says after a while.

"Yes. She is" Steve agrees.

"And smart..."

"Very smart, true." Steve nods in agreement.

"And she is totally fine with your crazy schedule, and your _chronic favors seeking syndrome_... hell, she doesn't even get angry at you, for this shit."

"Yeah... " Steve can't help cringing slightly with this quite accurate description.

"You are a very lucky man, Steve" Danny tells him when he senses the hesitation in his partner's voice "I can't find a single thing to say against her..."

"Well... I don't think she likes my mother..." he knows he's reaching here.

"Nobody like your mother, Steve. She's completely nuts. Everybody's afraid of her."

"Kono isn't afraid of her" he says quietly after a while.

"What?!" Danny cries, making Steve look at him in alarm, to almost stray off course, and to almost lose control of the car "I knew it will happen, you animal! No way man, don't you fucking go there!"

"What? where? what the hell are you talking about?" he knew he shouldn't start this conversation in the first place. Fucking knew it.

"You're her boss, Steve!"

He doesn't answer.

"She's young. She's Chin's family, and as I think we just established, _you have a fucking girlfriend!_"

No answer.

"You stay away from her, Steve, I mean it." he shouts.

"I will. I am. I mean, I would never..." he looks at Danny, mortified.

"Good" Danny says, with a sigh of relief.

"Fine" Steve mumbles.

They keep driving silently for a while.

"And besides, Kono wasn't exposed to your mother the same way the rest of us were" Danny reminds him "If she was, she would be scared of her like any other normal person..."

"Good point" Steve agrees, immediately. He makes a mental note to bring his mother to dinner in the safe house, and to have her spending some time with Kono. There's too many unhealthy questions running around in his mind these days, he should try answering them, if he wants to maintain his sanity. The sooner the better, if you ask him.

()()()

It's around eight in the evening when Danny calls to inform him that the information was released to the entire law enforcement community on the island. They managed to send proper notices to the airport officials, to each of the harbors and to all the private shipping companies working in key locations. He has to admit, Danny's ability to recruit the police patrols and to get them engaged in this manhunt is no less than impressive, it looks like he has loyal friends everywhere. He wonders, if Five-0 is the only place the guy lets himself express his true feelings about this island and its inhabitants. He actually wonders, what exactly are his partner's true feelings about this island...

He calls Chin and Kono, but after yesterday's progress, the new names they have leads nowhere. Kono was right, they are all from the same group, and they have all their basic information, including their most recent locations, but there is no sign for them anywhere. They are keeping low.

()()()

"It's getting too big" Kono says when he's back at the safe house, and Chin is about to leave and go to the lab again, to see if there is any progress with the broken computer "there are too many targets, it's too big an operation for us."

"I know" he nods gravely, crossing his arms on his chest and looking at the data she was working on the entire day.

"They are not stupid" Chin says "they know we investigate the killing in Adam's house, they are keeping low profile."

"Maybe they're gone, maybe they called it all off." Kono says hopefully.

"Not these guys." Chin shakes his head "they're Yakuza. If they get a mission they complete it. It's not a matter of _if_ here, it's a matter of _when_."

The three of them stand together quietly. There is no other lead. It doesn't look good.

()()()

There's a certain point in every operation, when you feel that your men are losing their faith. He knows this point only too well. It's the scariest point for a commanding officer, and he'd been there before. He knows how to recognize the small cracks in his men's resolve, the questions in their eyes, their hidden fears, and he could always fight it. Always. Until now. He used to know how to keep the men together, how to give them hope and to motivate them. How to let them feel that he is still in charge, and he will keep them from harm, and lead them to their target, no matter what. He was leading men through the jungles of south America, through the deserts of Afghanistan, through enemy's lines, and under fire, and he never betrayed their trust. For god's sake, he got medals for doing this shit, he brought men back home to live happily with their families, instead of lying in the cold ground of Arlington. He looks up at Kono's face, and hears her questions, and it's the first time it's not working. The first time he needs someone to show _him_ the way.

"We are working blind here" she continues quietly "we don't even know who the other targets are. We're just sitting and waiting..."

"It's the only way" Chin says "we need to work according to the plan. In a long and complicated case like this, we need to count on the data."

"We need to be more focused. It's too big." She says again. "Steve, look at me, you know this is not the right way. Sitting and waiting is not good for us, we need to be active and to focus on a specific assignment..."

"You think that I don't know that?" Steve shouts, suddenly, slamming his hand on the table, and shaking the computers and everything on it. "You think that I don't want to forget all about the other fucking targets and focus only on the one man who's hunting you? let the fucking guys die, so I won't have to worry about them anymore..."

"You don't mean it..." she looks mortified.

"I fucking do."

There's a tight silence in the apartment after his last declaration. He looks at her with burning blue eyes, wondering what the hell just happened. She looks at him, so surprised, like he had just broken an unwritten oath he made for her. "I don't" he says quietly, bowing his head "of course I don't. Chin is right. We need to find these targets. We'll continue with the methodical way of finding the information. There is no other option."

()()()

He wakes up in the morning in a foul mood. The memory of last night's outburst, as well as the stress and the worry form the past few days hitting him on the first moment of awakening. He sees her walking quietly into the living room, holding a coffee mug, and sitting in front of the computer, wearing the same stressed and angry expression.

He gets up of the sofa, and almost trips on one of her shoes that is thrown unceremoniously on the floor. He can't help the swearing that escapes his mouth.

"What the fuck is this?" he spits in irritation, rubbing his damaged foot. She only looks at him once, raising her eyebrow. "How many shoes do you have here anyway?" he asks angrily, looking around him and seeing at least two pairs thrown in different locations around the room.

"Six" she mumbles absentmindedly, doesn't even bother to look up form the computer screen.

"Six pair of shoes?" he looks at her in amazement "why would you need... you don't even go anywhere."

"It's _my_ shoes, what do you care, anyway?" she glares at him impatiently.

"Look at this living room" he argues, finding her lack of response irritating beyond belief "your shoes are thrown on the floor, and your shirt on the couch there. This whole apartment is a mess."

She looks around her, at what looks like a perfectly normal arrangement of clothes, currently thrown on different furniture around her. What the fuck is he on about? there are people living in this place, it's not a fucking museum. "if it bothers you, you can just move it" she shrugs "Jeez, I didn't realize you were so sensitive, and I guess, in this case, you should probably stay away from the bedroom..."

They look at each other for a moment. She can see his furious expression changes into a questioning one "don't you dare" she shouts when he makes a run towards the bedroom, running after him, too.

If he thought the living room was a mess, than the bedroom looks like a battle zone "what the hell happened here?" he asks in dismay "I saw robbery scenes that were tidier than this. Why are all your clothes on the chair and on the floor? you have a big and comfortable closet, and we have a washing machine in the kitchen..."

"They're not dirty" she tries to push him aside, "I have a system here. Don't touch anything!"

"A system?" he raises his voice again "does this system involves a magic chair, that cleans your clothes when you're not looking?"

"Precisely" she shouts, as she tries to push him away, because it looks like he's about to do something stupid, like reaching for her clothes and _fold_ them, or tuck them in the closet or something like that. It's really quite unfortunate that they don't have enough room, between the bed and the wall, because when she does, he loses his balance and falls on the floor. He captures her wrists, and he's telling himself it's only a reflex, to try and maintain his stance, but when he finds himself on the floor, with her collapsed on top of him, he really can't be sure that this is the case. They remain like this for a few seconds, chests heaving and breaths ragged and labored, and he makes a desperate move, yanking her by her wrists towards him, with his mouth half open, and his eyes focused on her sensual delicious lips. Just before he stops breathing, and while he can already imagine the taste of her beautiful mouth on his own, and she's so close, looking at him with these burnning brown eyes, he stops. They just lie there, trembling, they can hear Danny entering the apartment, and calling their names.

It takes her two seconds to release herself from his hold, and to make a desperate run to the bathroom. It takes him one more minute to go back to the living room, to pick up his shoes, his phone and his gun and to run out the door. When he runs down the stairs, he is in such a fucking hurry, he almost steps on Beth's, the neighbor, creepy dog.

()()()

He gets a call from Chin telling him the computer is ready, and that he's on his way to HQ. When they meet there and open the files, they find the answers they were looking for.

The two other targets are big shots in the island's economy. One of them is James Donaldson, the deputy manager of the national bank of Hawaii, and the other one is Peter Bell, the assistant district attorney responsible for financial crimes.

"This is why we couldn't find them" Chin says "they have no records, both are legitimate high ranking officials."

"Are they dirty?" Steve looks at the data questioningly "what is their connection to Adam?"

"No idea" Chin shrugs "but, I think we have enough here, to persuade them to talk to us."

They call Danny and Kono and let them know about the new development. Kono has no recollection of Adam mentioning any of the two, but she puts their information into her own searching system and tries to see if something familiar pops up. Danny is on the phone again with HPD, arranging for additional security details around the targets' homes and work places, while Steve and Chin are going to meet them face to face.

()()()

They are too late. James Donaldson is nowhere to be found. He is divorced, his ex-wife and his children are back on the mainland, and his house is empty when they get there. They search the place top to bottom, but find nothing out of the ordinary, the house looks like it was deserted for weeks. They go to his office, his secretary explains that he took off about three weeks ago, unexpectedly. He mentioned something about a family crisis and took his passport and some documents from his personal safe deposit box. She has no telephone numbers, and no other way to communicate with him. Everything she tells them makes them think this was an uncharacteristic behavior for him.

They go to Peter Bell's office first. The guy is a state official, he can't just vanish out of the blue. When they find him there, he looks anything but surprised to see them. He refuses to talk at first. Denies any knowledge of Adam Noshimuri or Donaldson, or anything else. While Chin tries to explain the gravity of the situation, Steve only stands there, looking at the pictures on the wall.

"Bring the laptop with the crime scene photos" Steve says to Chin quietly when the guy still doesn't talk "Peter, I need you to see something before we go."

They show him each and every photo of the massacre at Adam's house. They show him the blood, and the multiple gun shots. They show him the bruises and the violent blows to the bodies, and they show him the fifteen corpses lying next to each other in a raw of black body bags. They can see how the fear is spreading all over Bell's face, how he realizes for the first time what he is up against. When they show him the photos from Japan, with the bodies of the three children, bleeding in their beds, he can't take it anymore.

"Adam came to me" he says with trembling voice "promised to give me information, and details of all the money laundering his father was involved in. He had a list of names, and of transactions, companies and merchandises. He was involved with some of the strongest conglomerates on the island. He promised to bring bank accounts numbers used by human traffickers, and drug dealers. It was supposed to be the most substantial blow to the underworld on the island, and to damage quite a lot of criminal acts on the mainland, as well. How could I say no to that?"

"When was that?" Steve asks quietly.

"About two months ago" Bell answers, shaking his head "but then something happened. About a month ago, he changed his mind."

"That's what he told you?" Chin asks, looking at Steve in concern.

"I came to see him, at his home, but he chased me away" Bell nods "I told him I'll talk to my boss, that we can protect him, that this was a matter of a national scale, but he only laughed. Said nobody can protect him, and that I should stay away from him."

"Then what?"

"Then nothing. He told me to keep my mouth shut if I want to stay alive. I didn't mention it to anybody since."

"What about James Donaldson?" Steve asks "how does he fit in?"

"I think he was Adam's business manager. The Noshimuri family conducted all its finance through his bank. They have so many assets and cover companies, it would be more accurate to say that they owned the bank."

"We need to put you under protection." Steve says after Bell finishes telling them all the details "the Yakuza is looking for you, I want to get you out of here, as well as your family."

"I sent them to Britain, to stay with my wife's parents" he says quietly "they are safe."

"I'll get the US Marshals involved, we'll try to send you to be with them, how that's sound?"

()()()

They take him to HQ, with the backup of three police cars, and while Chin explains everything on the phone to Danny and Kono, it's again Steve's turn to handle the official conversations. It takes a few more hours, and about ten angry phone calls to the governor, US Marshals, the deputy general and the FBI. At last, the protection plan is on its way.

"What do you think happened, why did he change his mind?" he asks Bell while they sit in HQ, waiting for the security detail to come pick him up.

"I don't know. I think he never really meant to do it."

"What do you mean?" Steve asks, looking at Chin with an obvious unease.

"When I asked him, he said he was trying to pretend for someone. That he knew it was too dangerous and too crazy to even try and break his family ties to the Yakuza. He said it was not necessary anymore, because the reason for pretending was gone."

"Still" Steve asks, his voice tight "maybe he was really going to risk everything and leave..."

"That what I thought at first, but I think I was only trying really hard to believe him. Now I know he was lying, to me and to himself." Bell says, with a deep sigh "one of the companies he mentioned was _Tadira Fishing company_. It was a cover company for a gun smuggling operation for the local gangs in Chinatown. When I checked the records, it was created two weeks _after_ our first conversation. Even when he came to me, he never actually stopped building his father's empire. He's approach to me was only his way to entertain the idea, it was never serious. It was foolish, because this was what cost him his life at the end."

()()()

After the US Marshals and FBI task force pick Bell up, and take him to a secured location, and from there to the airport and out of the country, they stand in the parking lot together, looking at the retreating cars.

"Kono can't know about it" Steve mumbles "she thinks he really tried..."

"You want to lie to her?" Chin looks at him with a strange expression.

"No, no. Of course not, just..." he sighs, and bows his head in defeat. What the hell does he want? "Let's try not to mention it, unless she asks. I don't want her to think she was the reason he... living with the blame... and I want her to have a good opinion on..."

"I understand, Steve, it's OK" Chin puts his hand on his team leader's shoulder "thank you."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **thank you all for reading, following, favoring and especially commenting on this fic. Special thanks to **Sidalee** for the kind and quick tech support.

Please tell me what you think.

R.

* * *

"What are you looking at?" Danny asks curiously when he finds him standing at the door to his office looking strangely at the enormous pile of paper work, on his desk.

"Look at the size of it" he gestures towards his desk "how is it that we have so many forms and documents to sign when we have the best fucking computer on the island?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about" Danny shrugs next to him "it looks the same as it always does".

"That's not possible" Steve shakes his head "I never saw so many files and written reports in my entire life."

"You're getting senile, babe." Danny laughs at his partner's desperate tone "why do you think we keep having all these fights about the paperwork duties? it's just that normally _Kono_ does most of the work _for us_."

"We make her do all this?" he looks incredulously at him "I know her, she's so fucking stubborn, there's no way she would have let us get away with... I personally have never..."

"That's because you are probably a better man than the rest of us" Danny snorts "Navy oath and SEALS honor and all this other bullshit, or maybe it's just that you don't know how to appeal to her..._ kinder side_..."

"What?"

"She's a true sweetheart, really" Danny laughs at Steve's furious expression "if I only mention that I'm late to pick up Grace, or if I make a miserable face... it doesn't take long until she offers to do it for me."

"You trick her into doing your paperwork? what kind of man are you?"

"Resourceful, that what I am" he spits in irritation "she's better at it than I anyway, it's only natural..."

"I'm not having it anymore" Steve notifies him, pushing his way towards his desk "if I catch her doing paperwork for you again, I'll make you surf in a bikini with a pineapple strapped to your forehead."

"That's really funny" Danny smiles at his partner's vivid description. The piercing blue eyes that glare at him from behind the desk, suggests that he's completely serious about that.

()()()

"I have Donaldson" Danny shouts a few hours later from the other side of HQ "he's in L.A. his credit card was used, and I just got a confirmation form an ATM camera. It's him."

"What is he doing there?" Steve runs towards him, looking at the image on the computer screen.

"Hiding I guess, and doing a rubbish job at it, if you ask me..."

"Danny, do you have someone there we can talk to?"

"Already on it" Danny answers, his ear glued to his cell phone "I have a buddy who can hold him for us. But we'll need to talk to him ourselves, somehow."

()()()

"What the hell is this?" he asks when he enters the apartment and sees Kono rolling the carpet back on the floor.

"What is what?" she looks up from her position on the floor.

"He's talking about the noise" Chin explains from the other side of the room.

"It's not noise" she rolls her eyes in frustration "I told you already, it's music!" They had the same discussion for the last hour or so.

"Music?" Steve looks at her with suspicion.

"It's music in the _wider_ sense of the word..." Chin suggests helpfully.

"Lady Gaga" she says, putting her hands on her hips, "you must recognize her songs..." there's that familiar uncertainty in his eyes, when she says it, the same one he had when Danny tried to describe to the rest of them about the special relationship he has with his hair. It's a unique mixture of puzzlement and mortification.

"I honestly have no idea." he admits reluctantly "is it some kind of a music band?"

"Born This Way, A bad romance, Poker face, Paparazzi?" she tries to see if one of the names rings any bells, but he looks even more confused with what sounds like a random collection of words she throws at him, "for god's sakes, how old are you?" she cries indignantly and walks purposefully towards the computer "here, there she is. You must have seen her before..."

He looks in deep concentration at the pictures on the computer screen "and you claim she's a _lady_?" he drawls.

"Well... sort of..." she says. This is actually a fair question.

"Why is she naked? and what happened to her hair?" he asks with increased interest, scrolling down the images.

"She's an artist, she is making a statement" she clarifies, trying not to be annoyed by his lack of understanding.

"I thought you said she's a singer" he points to a specific revealing photo "how can she sing like this, she must be freezing to death."

"Oh, forget about it" she huffs, raising her hands, to the sound of Chin's laughter "you are obviously not taking this seriously."

"I am babe, I swear" he shouts after her, when she walks to the other room "look, she is lying inside a Styrofoam egg, she's doing it for... the acoustics, I presume...?"

()()()

"We have Donaldson, but someone will have to go to L.A. to talk to him" he tells Chin when they are about to part for the night "I'm sending Danny, he has a seat on the 4 AM morning flight."

"OK" Chin nods "I guess I'll be here first thing tomorrow morning, then. Hopefully she'll have a better mood."

"What happened?" Steve looks apprehensively at the closed door of the shower, where his stubborn roommate, disappeared a few minutes ago.

"I think she is finally losing her mind" Chin says with all seriousness "I mean, when I came here today, she was cleaning and arranging the entire apartment. I didn't see her do something like this since she was seventeen, and still lived at her parent's home."

"She did?" Steve looks around him, with an arrogant smile.

"Yes. I was actually worried, when I first saw it. I wouldn't mention it though, if I were you..."

()()()

Danny calls him from L.A. at eight in the morning. They are all still in the safe house, he puts it on speaker so the three of them can listen in. Apparently, Donaldson is not talking. Danny's threats and intimidations are of no use, he refuses to share any information. He knows that they are on to him, knows they have all the details about his connection to Adam, and that they know about the Yakuza's hitting squad, but he must have something big to cover up, because he doesn't say anything.

"Tell him you'll bring him back" Steve says "tell him that we want to have another go at him, here."

"Is it the right call, Steve?" Chin asks "the guy is a moving target, can we really protect him?"

"Probably not" Steve says shrugging "and he probably knows it, too. Danny, make all the arrangements to bring him in, he will get cold feet at some point, and start talking."

"OK" Danny says "but I honestly don't think he will."

"If he's stupid enough to stay silent" Steve states decisively "maybe he deserves to be killed."

()()()

He finishes his coffee, and washes the cup, and makes his way to the door, when he sees her standing near the window, fidgeting and tapping her foot in irritation.

"What's wrong with you?" he asks, even though he knows perfectly well, he probably should just let it go.

"I can't stand it anymore. I'm suffocating here."

"What are you talking about?" he looks at her with concern. She looks so agitated, he's getting nervous himself.

"I can't stand it, being cocooned here in this tiny place. I need to go outside, to the sun, to run for a bit and to exercise. I need to relive the all the extra energy I have. Please Steve, I need to go surfing..."

"Do you really think I'm letting you out? you must be delirious."

"The kid has a point" Chin says from behind them "I mean, would _you_ stand being closed up like this?"

"I've been in jail, as you remember" he states dryly "it's tough, but I managed" he can't believe it, how can Chin ho be on _her_ side?

"Please Steve, If I won't relieve some of the tension, I think I might die..." she whines. He has to admit, he's starting to feel sorry for her, a tiny bit, and he actually wants her alive.

"Fine" he gives up "I'll bring you some weights and exercise equipment from my place. You can knock yourself out to fucking oblivion."

"That's an excellent idea" Chin says smiling encouragingly towards her.

"Yeah?" she looks skeptical "I hope it'll be enough..."

He does, too. Very much. Unfortunately there are other ways for her to burn all her energy that automatically come to his mind. He's a strong man, and he still has enough of his sanity to avoid mentioning them out loud, and to keep them tucked in his apparently, fucked up, sex driven, inappropriate, and dirty mind.

()()()

They make an arrest. He can't fucking believe it when Duke calls, and tells him they have one of the suspects in custody. He drives to HPD so fast, he almost misses a turn and practically has the car going on two wheels when he tries to make it at the last second. He half expects Danny to shout at him from the other seat, but the guy is not there, thankfully. He tells himself that it's just out of respect for Danny, that he's trying to be more careful from then on. Either way, he makes it in one piece to HPD in the end.

()()()

They have Kaimana Chang. He was found by police patrol outside of the courthouse. He was recognized by the cops from the pictures Kono found, and that Danny distributed so meticulously around the island. When they tried to approach him on the street, he gave back a fight and tried to escape, and they had to use force. The courthouse security guards joined in, and it all became quite violent and bloody. By the end of it they had two cops wounded, one with a broken arm and the other with a stabbing wound in his abdomen. Chang himself was shot in the leg, and was treated in the emergency department before he was brought back to HPD. When Steve gets there, he finds him sitting in the interrogation room, ready for questioning. He kindly refuses the presence of another cop with him in the room, and leaves his gun and his shield outside. Before he gets in, he grabs a medium size fire extinguisher tha he locates there, hanging on the wall.

"Give me ten minutes without any interruptions" he asks Duke. "If you give me a free hand, it will all be over in no time." The look in Duke's eyes is anything but convinced, but they both go back long enough, and Steve's authority, as well as his _special_ relationship with the governor still have their impact, so although Duke shakes his head with concern, he still steps back.

He walks into the small and dark room, and just stands there, silently, looking at the suspect who is sitting on the chair. He never says anything, doesn't scream, doesn't move, just watches him with a furious look for two whole minutes. He can see Chang's level of anxiety raised by the second. He starts looking around him in unease, watching the big one sided mirror on the wall. He is moving his eyes in confusion between Steve's intimidating face and the unexplained fire extinguisher.

Then, suddenly, without any warning, he takes the fire extinguisher and crashes its bottom side into the microphone on the wall. The device is crashed completely, they both know, the sound is blocked to the outside world. He takes the fire extinguisher, and points it to the one sided mirror. He sprays the entire mirror and coves it with white heavy foam. When he turns back towards the suspect, he can see that the guy realizes, he is there with Steve, all alone.

"Who is your target?" he asks quietly. There's a deep silence in the room, when the suspect looks at him with apparent apprehension. He kicks the table that is standing between them, pushing it violently against the wall.

"Who is your target?" he asks again, stepping closer, closing his fists. When the suspect still doesn't answer, he kicks the chair he is sitting on. Chang is down on the floor, his hands are cuffed, and his wounded leg is hurt, again, by the unexpected fall.

"Who is your target?" he shouts, standing above him, and getting ever so close.

"Bell" Chang cries "Peter Bell. The lawyer. But we couldn't find him, he vanished, I was put outside his workplace, but only for surveillance.

"Where is the rest of your team?" he's still shouting, fast, never letting Chang get his bearings back, and it works, because he spills everything, including names and locations and the whole fucking MO. Finally, he has to call the detectives in, to help write everything down. He find them, surprisingly, only too happy to do so. Well, there's nothing surprising about it, really. When he opens the door, and they see that Chang is, amazingly, still alive, and even unhurt, they are so fucking relieved they are willing to do whatever Steve asks. When he offers to pay for the damage, from the Five-0's budget, they are still so fucking grateful, they kindly refuse.

()()()

They have the location of the rest of Chang's team. Chin and Kono are tucked away at the safe house, and Danny is in L.A., coming on the evening flight, with or without Donaldson, it's still unclear, so he has to make the breach with the SWAT team. It's weird, and unfamiliar, he is so used by now, to his own team's backup, he looks around him with a sense of unease. He has full confidence in the guys that he leads, don't get him wrong, it's just that with the Five-0 members, he feels more at home. They work so well together, like a well oiled machine, he can anticipate each of their movements, and almost sense what they think. He shakes this unnecessary comparison, and focuses on the breach, when they're finally in, it happens so fast, and so quietly, he actually couldn't hope for anything better. When they enter the house, they find three more guys form Kono's list hiding there. They have surprise on their side, and numbers too, there aren't any shots, and no casualties to speak of. They have the whole place secured in less than five minutes.

When he leaves the scene, he knows he should be satisfied. It's the first real progress they've made since the whole damn thing started. They have actually managed to capture one of the Yakuza teams, and they have enough material to connect them to the shootout at Adam Noshimuri's estate and to Peter Bell. He isn't happy though, not in the slightest. Although Bell is tucked away, safely, in Britain, Donaldson is secured, but he is still a target, and Kono's assassin is still at large. On the drive back to HQ he calls her and Chin, and tries to color it in the most positive way he can think of. Only he can tell she hears the disappointment in his voice, they all know, it's still far from over.

()()()

He goes to his house to pick up some weights and other equipment. He tries to find something that is suitable for her size. He is using much heavier stuff than _she_ should be using, and he spends at least half an hour trying to chose something safe. When he puts it all in his old duffle bag, and carries it out to the car, he sees his mother coming back from the small beach behind the house. He has a few seconds, when he looks at her approaching, to think carefully about what he's about to do. He can practically imagine Danny's rants and accusations, when he finds out about it. Only... Danny is in L.A. it could actually be his only chance to get away with this, undoubtedly, rare combination of poor judgment, pure lunacy and self destructive behavior, so obviously, he decides to just fucking do it.

He tries to be casual about it, just asking her nicely to come for dinner. He mumbles some noncommittal bullshit about not seeing her for a while, and about his obligation to stay at the safe house with Kono, giving her some rough details about the case, and it must makes her curious enough to actually accept the invitation. They arrange to meet in a couple of hours at the safe house. He still has to get rid of Chin. When he gets to the safe house, he explains the situation to the doorman, and goes upstairs to prepare.

()()()

"What is she doing here?" Kono whispers to him when he finishes up in the kitchen, and Doris is sitting on the couch in the living room.

"I asked her to come for dinner, what's wrong with that?" he whispers back.

"We're in a middle of a fucking operation, in a safe house, can she be trusted?" she doesn't seem to buy his lame excuse.

"She's a well trained CIA operative" he explains, trying not to flinch with the fact that he's using his overbearing mother's own words "she's my mother, she's safe. Why?" he looks suspiciously at her "you have something against her? does she freak you out?"

"Are you kidding me?" she snorts "you spoke with my mother yourself, your mother is no more than an amateur in my book."

"Don't get over confident" he advises when she picks up some water and goes back to the living room. He knows perfectly well, if his mother will sense that she has her guards down, she's doomed.

()()()

"So... Kono..." Doris says when they sit around the dining room table, and Steve brings the food from the kitchen "how do you like living with my son?"

"I'm not living with him" she says much too quickly than she probably should have "we only sleep here together" she says it without even thinking, and almost chokes on her water, under Steve's mortified glare.

"Do you, now?" Doris leans back, and watches how the two of them exchange furious looks.

"Doris!" Steve changes the subject "take some more lamb, it's really good."

"It can't be easy, I know" she continues without giving him any attention "he has all these rules about arranging the house and keeping it tidy. I can't imagine where he got it from, I had to fight with him to clean his room, for years."

"Yeah. He is _a little_ overbearing, I admit it..." she mumbles "he thinks we're all in the Navy or something."

"You know" Doris muses "come to think of it, he was always very demanding, even as a baby when he was still breast feeding I would..."

"Mom!" Steve cries in indignation.

"Oh relax, Steve. Don't be so coy. It's perfectly natural..."

"It actually isn't" he shakes his head vigorously "speaking about your breasts in public, that's really..."

"Don't overreact Steven. I'm your mother, and Kono is a woman. We can talk about everything, it's not a big deal. He was always very sensitive" Doris says to Kono "maybe this is why he was wetting the bed for as long as he did."

"I didn't" he cries, looking at Kono with pure shock "she's lying, I really didn't."

"I am, actually" Doris smiles "but what can I say, you are so easy to rile up. It's because you are so serious and uptight all the time."

"I'm not" he grumbles.

"_Yes, you are_" the two women say it together.

"Was he always like that?" Kono asks curiously "even as a child?"

"I don't think so" Doris smiles kindly at her son "he was such a naughty boy, always getting into troubles trying to do some crazy stunts, and breaking the rules. He was lucky all his teachers loved him so much."

"Well" he looks pointedly at his mother "it stopped being funny, at a certain point. When dad had other things to worry about, and we had Marry to think of. I had to grow up."

"I did what I had to do, Steven" she raises her voice "we've gone through this before. It had to be done, you should stop blaming me for everything..."

They look at each other with pain filled eyes, and Kono can see the hurt on his face, instead of the usual stoic expression. His defective communication skills, prevents him from actually saying what he feels, so she simply has to step in.

"It's not a matter of blame" she says in the middle of the deep and charged silence. They both turn their heads towards her, like they can't believe she is speaking. She can hardly believe it herself, but she can't back down at this point anymore. "You left a broken family behind you. Steve was fifteen, his sister only a child. His father was so sad and fearful, he was forced to send them away from their home. Steve built himself up on his own, disconnected from everything he had and from everything he loved. He became a strong, courageous, independent man, that everyone who meets him respects him immediately. He is serious, and committed, and he knows how to protect his own. Fuck, the fact that I'm stuck here in this stupid apartment, is a proof of that. He fought grief, loss, questions and fears, but he never turned his back on his family or his team. He's a good man, and you should be proud, Instead of just lie to him and avoid his questions."

They both look shell-shocked, after her little speech, and she thinks she can see some tears in Doris's eyes. Steve just looks at her in silence, his mouth half open, his expression is a mixture of awe and surprise.

()()()

They finish the dinner, hardly speaking to one another, but they manage to keep it civilized and polite the entire time. When it's time for Doris to go home, it's weird, because she goes to Kono, and squeezes her hand affectionately, as a silent goodbye. Kono escapes to the kitchen to clear the dishes, and he's left to walk his mother to the door.

"Does Catherine know?" Doris asks when they stand in the hallway.

"Knows what?" he asks with a sigh.

"That you are in love with another woman" she whispers, touching his cheek.

"Not yet" he says to himself, when he closes the door behind her.

()()()

"Donaldson is dead" Danny shouts on the other side of the line.

"What? what the fuck are you talking about?" he shoots out from his place on the couch.

"We were at the airport, waiting for HPD to come pick us up. A drive by shooting from a black sedan."

"Did you see anything? did you give chase?" Steve demands, throwing a punch at the white wall, with uncontrolled rage.

"Not enough time, I'm afraid" Danny sighs "Fuck it, Steve. Bringing him in? was a very bad call."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **thank you all for reading, following, favoring and especially commenting on this fic.

This chapter is much more emotional. It had to be, after all the buildup. Something had to snap eventually. I hope it still came out OK, and that I managed to stay true to the characters.

Please tell me what you think.

R.

* * *

She wakes up to the sound of his voice. He sounds angry and impatient. She walks slowly towards the living room, and sees him standing in front of the big window, holding his phone to his ear. When he's done, he drops the phone on the desk, and stands with his arms crossed, shaking his head. She walks slowly around him, and he looks at her with tired eyes. When she looks at his right hand, she sees that his knuckles are bruised and blood is dripping from a few ugly skin tears around them. She walks to the bathroom, and comes back with a small first aid kit. She pulls him towards the sofa, and with a tug to his hand forces him gently to sit down. She never says a word, just concentrates on cleaning the blood and on dressing the wound in a delicate but sure way. He lets her do whatever she wants, looking at her face, and at the way her hand moves to gently tuck a strand of brown hair behind her ear.

"Donaldson is dead" he says quietly "he was shot in the airport. The shooters got away."

She doesn't answer, just keeps doing her work on his hand. "They almost got Danny too, it was so quick, he couldn't see anything." She still doesn't answer, it's like he's talking to himself. "It's my fault, I shouldn't have ordered him back. Chin was against it, as well as Danny. It was a very bad call."

She finally looks up from his currently, very carefully and masterfully bandaged hand, looking very relaxed and almost... satisfied.

"Here" she smiles "all done."

"It looks good" he says in appreciation, moving his hand slowly "you're very good."

"Yeah" she shrugs "I had my fair share of injuries, growing up."

"From surfing?"

"Actually... from too many fights."

"You had fights as a child?" he looks at her, smiling for the first time today.

"Quite often" she grumbles "and it looks like it's becoming a habit. I mean, look where I am today..."

They sit next to each other on the sofa, in the dead of night. It's all so quiet around them, and it's quite dark, the only light is from the bedside lamp near the sofa, and from the lamp post outside on the street. They look at each other's eyes, and he realizes, she didn't actually say anything, only listened and well... she was just there. He can't explain it, the way she simply managed to stop his brutal travel down the self pity trail and to calm him down.

"Thanks" he tells her, and he has no idea if she realizes what he's actually thanking her for.

"It's not your fault" she says like she's reading his mind "_you_ didn't pull the trigger. We'll catch the son of a bitch who did. It just gonna have to take a little more time."

"Kono, I..." he starts after a few seconds.

"It's very late, Steve" she says looking into his glinting eyes "why don't you tell me in the morning..." she stands up, picks up the first aid kit, and walks back to her bedroom.

()()()

He wakes up in the morning with a new surge of energy. He calls Chin and asks him to come to the safe house for a comprehensive briefing of the case. Then he goes to the bathroom, and spends three minutes there under the current, before he's out, walking barefoot to the kitchen to find something to eat.

She finds him in kitchen in his boxer shorts, standing by the counter eating cereals.

"Want some?" he asks with his mouth full.

"You're looking _cheerful_ this morning" she grumbles, pushing him gently to reach for a cup in the cupboard. He only shrugs in response. "How's your dressing?" she asks, looking at his right hand.

"It's fine" he says, moving his fingers, and examining her work, again.

"Let me see" she takes his hand, and he puts his bowl on the counter, letting her take it in her own delicate hand, he can't keep from smiling at the serious way she looks at her handy work. "Did you get it wet in the shower?" she asks, raising her eyes to him in what amusingly looks like a scolding face. Only, she finds herself looking into his curious gaze, and there's a short moment when their eyes lock, and there's a sudden tension in the air around them. There's wildness in her eyes, when she looks straight at him, refuses to back down from his piercing blue eyes. He can't breathe, can't move, desperately searching for any indication of what's going on inside her pretty head. Then he sees it. It's a small movement, as her eyes flicker quickly to his half opened mouth. He knows.

He moves fast. Pushing himself off the counter and holds her against the refrigerator door. His right bandaged hand, goes behind her neck, keeping her head still, and his other arm encircles her waist. He crashes against her, kissing her violently, and for a few precious seconds he can feel her kissing him back, hungrily, with her arms holding onto his shoulders. It makes him growl unexpectedly when he realizes she is responding like that, her long leg laced around his thigh. It ends after a few minutes. She gets a hold of his face with both arms, and breaks the spell. They stand there, holding each other, breathless with the surge of lust that just claimed them, looking into each other's eyes. He makes a desperate move, to try and renew the kiss, but she pushes him back, gently but decisively saying "no Steve, please. Not like this."

There's a certain quality in her voice that helps her quiet but strong and serious request overpower his burning need to touch her. He stands in front of her, frozen, trying to regain control on his trembling body. "Let me go, Steve. Please." she says again, still held in his strong arms against the cold surface of the refrigerator door.

"I'm not sure that I can" he confesses with a whisper.

Eventually he does, though. It takes a few moments, but he is able to let her go and take a few steps back. She straightens her tank top, and rubs her flushed and kiss bruised face, trying to get a hold on her nerves, too.

"Are you all right?" she asks, eyeing him in concern.

He only nods in response.

She walks to the bathroom and spends at least ten minutes there. He takes the time to get dressed and to make them both new cups of coffee. When Danny and Chin arrive at the apartment, everything is already back to normal.

()()()

"What happened here?" Danny asks when he stands in the living room watching the hole in the middle of the clean, white wall.

"Mmmm... that was an accident" Steve says, not even looking up from the computer screen Chin is working on.

"I see" Danny says, sending a suspecting look to Steve's right hand "I hates it when it happens. I mean, when the walls keep bumping into my fists. "

There's a little voice inside Steve's head that pleads him not to respond. _Very little_ voice, apparently. "What's your problem?" he asks in irritation.

"_My problem?_" Danny looks at him in surprise "I'm not the one with a problem here, babe. Did you ever hear about anger management courses? because I think we should look into sending you to one."

"It's only a wall, Danny. Nobody got hurt" Steve tries to argue "although, somebody might..." he murmurs, making a fist and looking straight into Danny's eyes.

"Oh, stop it. I'm not afraid of you" Danny dismisses him with his usual hand gesture "I'm only mentioning it, because it's not something a sane person would actually do. Look at the wall for fuck's sakes. It's practically causing damage to a public property. We need to give this apartment back at some point, you know..."

"I'm sorry if it offends you as a law enforcer" Steve states dryly.

"It doesn't" Danny clarifies "it insults me as an interior decorator."

()()()

They stand around the desk in the living room which serves as Kono's makeshift work station, and start their briefing with Danny's description of the events of last night. A black sedan, probably with one shooter, but highly qualified. Donaldson didn't have a chance. HPD were at the scene five minutes later, they looked around the terminal, but found nothing. Chin's search through the morning reports came up empty, there weren't any calls about abandoned vehicles with the right description.

"We had six men on Donaldson and Bell" Steve sums up. "We found four of them. Kaimana Chang and three others. That leaves three men at large, possibly two from the Donaldson killing squad, and the guy assigned to Kono."

"The Donaldson murder" Danny says "it's bigger than a two men job. Maybe the killing itself was done by two men, with one driver and one shooter, but the whole operation... I mean, where did they get their intelligence from? how did they knew we were coming, and when? They were practically waiting for us."

"You're right" Steve says "even if the three of them worked together, it's still looks like they had help."

"They targeted Donaldson when he was under HPD and Five-0 protection" Chin says "we have to assume there's a leak, somewhere."

"Jeez" Danny sighs "the entire men hunt we run here is based on HPD. We could have missed more people. For all we know, we are dealing with more than just three."

"There are only five more potential suspects on the initial list from the church" Kono says, opening the appropriate file "it's more than three, but not by a lot."

"OK" Steve says "there's no use in trying to chase ghosts. We need to focus on what we_ do have_."

They all look quietly, as he stands there, frowning. He has this look of determination on his face, the one he gets when he has a new creative, or if you ask Danny, a new _stupid_, idea.

"What do you suggest?" Danny asks eventually, because it looks like he had retreated to a world of his own.

"We'll start from the end" he says with his usual authoritative voice "Donaldson is dead, but we can look into the details of his arrival on the island. Danny, I want you on it, talk to your friend in L.A., check the people involved in HPD, check the airline, everything."

"Sounds good" Danny says "I'll check his telephone records, and his family, too."

"We have to keep it quiet" Steve adds "if we have a leak, I don't want them to realize we are looking."

"OK" Danny nods "I'll spread some conflicting assignments, I'll cover my tracks."

"Kono's list is still the only solid thing we have" he continues. "We have five names there we need to locate. Chin, I want you to use whatever database you can think of, whatever national and international organization, turn every stone, just find them!"

"OK, Steve" Chin nods "what about the men we have in custody?"

"I'm not sure" he says "I honestly don't think they have anything more for us. I was very...emmm..."

"Persuasive?" Kono suggests.

"Encouraging?" Chin makes his own attempt.

"Batshit crazy and out of your fucking mind?" Danny helps.

"Thorough" he states dryly "but thanks, guys. You are all really, very supportive..."

"Why don't I give it another shot?" Chin smiles "I'll take a _different_ approach, just in case."

"What about me?" Kono asks finally "what do you want me to do?" he only looks at her silently for a few moments "

"You" he says, positioning his hands on both sides of the table "you are going to go over every piece of information that connects you to Adam Noshimuri. I want a list of all the people who knew your name, your address, your affiliation with Five-0, your family..."

She looks at him in apprehension, not exactly getting what he is looking for.

"I want to start from the target backwards" he explains "I want to have an accurate risk assessment, in advance, and not to be surprised as we were in Donaldson's case. You are safe here in the apartment for now. I had no one involved with the details except of the four of us and the doorman. We still have enough breathing space, protecting you here, but I have to know who I'm looking for, to be extra sure."

"The people who shot Donaldson" Danny says "we have to assume they figured out the connection to Five-0."

"Precisely" Steve agrees "this is why I need a comprehensive list of people who knew you and about your relationship with Adam. _especially_ if there was someone who made the connection to our team."

"Are you _absolutely_ sure about the safe house" Chin asks in concern.

"Absolutely" Steve nods "it's only the four of us, and the doorman. No one else knows she's here."

"Except your mother..." Kono says quietly from the other side of the table.

He doesn't miss the furious and accusatory glare he gets from Danny, when she says it.

()()()

He is able to avoid Danny, and get out of the house in one piece. The look of hardly contained rage the guy sends him, when he runs down the stairs suggests that he's still up to a full scale blowout from him, later. He can take it, he thinks. If he's being honest, Danny actually warned him about messing with his young teammate in advance, it's only fair.

He goes to the lab, and spends an hour with Max going over the examination of Donaldson's body. It's no surprise, there are no new findings, the bullets match the bullets from Adam Noshumuri's house. He goes back to HQ, and spends a few more hours completing the paper work, and contacting the US marshals, getting some details on Bell's arrival in Britain, and making sure the safe house, is still at his disposal. He goes to see the governor, and spends two hours there, explaining the latest development as well as going over the obvious implications of having a man shot dead in the middle of Hawaii's International Airport, in the middle of the holidays season. It doesn't go as smoothly as he would have wished. He gets out of the meeting feeling worse than he did coming in. They worst part is the fact that his phone doesn't ring, even once. His teammates, obviously, made no progress.

()()()

He's on his way back to HQ, when he realizes Danny had probably finished his security duty at the apartment, by now. He pulls the truck at the side of the road, thinking about everything he has to deal with. He has too many battles to fight, at the moment. Between the massive men hunt, the push back from the governor, Kono's safety, and well... Kono herself, the guilt trip about Catherine, and now Danny's rage about his mother's visit and the over whole low endurance of his team, he has enough experience to know he will not be able to spend the necessary energy on solving this case, when he has all those distractions.

His first priority is Kono's safety, the next, solving the fucking case. He has to get rid of some of the other issues. He makes an instant decision when he realizes that. He turns on the engine, and goes back to the road, pulling his phone from his pocket.

()()()

Danny finds something in his methodical search. It's amazing, the idea of looking into Donaldson's telephone records was simply brilliant. Before the flight to the island, Donaldson was held by Danny's friend, at a small motel outside of L.A. He had 24 hours detail on him, but he managed to make a call. It's Danny's instincts again, proving what a great detective he is, that make a breakthrough. When he crosses the list of numbers from the motel, with the list from Donaldson's bank in Hawaii, he finds a connection.

"He called his bloody secretary" Danny calls to him, when he enters HQ "I'm thinking, if they had someone on Bell's office, maybe they had Donaldson's workplace under surveillance too."

"You think they've monitored the calls? the fucking idiot told her he was coming, and told her when?"

"Only one way to find out, babe" Danny smiles, throwing him the keys to the Camaro "here, you're driving."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Steve asks with suspicion.

"I just want you to enjoy yourself, driving" he shrugs making his way out "while I enjoy kicking your stupid, irresponsible, insane, inappropriate and disloyal ass!"

()()()

"I know you're upset" Steve starts when they're in the car together, driving silently for a while.

"Upset? I'm beyond upset, Steve. I'm practically livid" Danny shouts "I specifically remember, we talked about it, and you promised..."

"I didn't promise anything" Steve protests quickly "I simply mentioned..."

"You let me understand you will not go after her. You made it adamantly clear" Danny cuts him off "don't you find this case complicated enough? you need more challenges in your life, is that it? you need to see how close you can put your hand near the flame, before you get burned?"

"It's not like that, Danny. It's... it's something else..."

"It's your unsatisfied libido, after not getting enough from Catherine, with all that ridiculously scheduled sex."

"It has nothing to do with sex, Danny" Steve shakes his head in apparent shock "we didn't even... I'm..."

"You're what?" Danny asks in anger "you think you're in love with her?"

()()()

It's the perfect time to get to the National Bank of Hawaii, if you ask him. He stops the car, looking at his partner, with all his guards back on. "Steve... what were you saying?" Danny asks quietly, sensing his partner drifting away from him.

"Let's get inside. I want to catch the secretary before she goes home" he says, getting out of the car. Danny follows him in silence, his concern already rising to a new level.

()()()

The secretary confirms everything. Donaldson called, but kept it short. He asked her to prepare some papers regarding some of the bank accounts he was responsible for, and to download some computer files as well. He told her to prepare it all in a big envelope, and keep it with her, until he calls again. She asked where he is, and he told her he will be coming back to the island from L.A. sometime that evening. He had to disconnect, but before that he mumbled something about 'they are coming to get me' and just disappeared. When Steve asks, she pulls out the envelope from a drawer, and he takes it with relief. He looks back at his partner, they both know, it's a major breakthrough. More importantly, they can safely assume HPD was not compromised. They walk back to the car, and Steve calls Kono and Chin, explaining what they found. Their relieved voices on the other line, worth everything, They are back on track, they have a clear idea what they're doing. It's getting better, he can feel it. But when they are back in the car, Danny still has something to say.

"Look Steve" he starts "I know it's complicated, and that you feel a bit..."

"Please Danny. I don't want to talk about it. I'll figure it out, trust me."

"It's OK" Danny says reassuringly "I trust you, Steve. But still... if you feel that you're heading towards somewhere dangerous with her... there are a few things you have to do, first."

"I know, Danny" he nods, looking straight ahead "I'm taking care of it."

()()()

He meets her at the entrance to the base, and takes her in his truck to the beach. They sit, looking at the calm ocean, their feet buried in the sand, but it takes a while until he starts to speak.

"What's going on, Steve?" she asks when they sit there for a while, and he still doesn't talk.

"Look, Catherine..." he starts, and he knows he's failing when he tries not to use his regular commanding tone "we know each other for a long time...but I think, that lately..."

She looks at him in shock, her hand goes straight to her mouth, and her eyes filled with unshed tears. She knows what he's doing, it's clear. Hell, he half expects her to call him on his pathetic attempt to make this stupid break up conversation, and save him the trouble. She can read him so well by now, and can compensate for his lack of communication skills by completing his sentences for him. Apparently, currently she's not in the mood. He's on his own with this one.

"I want out" he spits, and he knows it's blunt and inconsiderate after so many years, but she already knows, there's no reason to drag it more than absolutely necessary. He just want to get it over with, he can't stand hurting her like this, he simply has no choice.

"Why?" she asks quietly, and he looks mortified at the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I don't want to lie to you" he says, looking at her with a serious expression "if we stay together, it wouldn't be fair..."

"You're doing it for my sake?" she laughs bitterly "how gallant of you."

"It wouldn't be fair on the _both of us_" he ignores her sarcasm.

"You had no problem exploiting me until today" she reminds him "why stop now?"

He looks at the big ocean in front of them, and breathes the salty air "I know I was... I know you made sacrifices."

"I gave up a promotion for you" she says, at last back in control of her voice "I settled in Hawaii for you. I gave you time, and space. I knew you had issues, and that commitment freaked you out, I was so patient and understanding, for god sakes, the things I let you get away with... I'm so embarrassed."

"I know" he nods "you were great, really... it's just..."

"Is there someone else?" she asks, eyeing him in alarm.

He runs his eyes over the dressing on his right hand, not sure how to answer this question. "I'm sorry, Cath" he says, hugging her with one arm, relaxing to the sensation of her head on his right shoulder.

"Yes" she sighs in response" I'm sorry, too."

* * *

**A/N2:** I hope this update was OK with you all. I am a bit worried about the serious and heavy tone, but I felt it was necessary to make the needed advancement in the storyline. I will be going on a short vacation next week, to visit my family which I didn't see in almost a year. I will try to post something before my trip abroad, but I'm not sure I'll have the time. I will be back shortly, though. The trip is important and it's a good reason to hold off the updates for a short while.

Please leave me a review, to help me with my next installment.

R.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **thank you all for reading, following, favoring and especially commenting on this fic.

Sorry for the long delay with this update, just came back from a long vacation, ready to be back on schedule.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

It takes him some time until he decides it is safe enough and polite enough to take Catherine back to the base and put the whole thing behind him. He promises to collect the few things she left at his home, apologizes again, and again, and again, until his feelings becomes so hollow, even she can't get much more self righteousness out of his metaphorical groveling in the dirt. He leaves her near her car at the base, kisses her cheek one last time, and with an enormous relief, climbs onto his truck and drives away.

He make a short stop at his house, before going back to his team. He finds his mother there, looking curiously at his purposeful appearance. He makes up something about needing more clothes, and walks around her, to throw himself into the ocean. He completes a few laps in the quiet and dark water, before going back to the house. He prepares a small bag of Catherine's stuff. He finds two tee shirts, her hair brush, a pair of running shoes and a forgotten lipstick he never realized she used. He puts it all in a small bag, and puts the bag next to the door, before he looks back at his mother who examines him silently from the dining room.

"Are you staying?" she asks eventually, her arms crossed, a small smile spreads on her lips.

"Emmm, no. I gotta go" he scratches his head.

"What happened to your hand?" she asks suddenly. Shit. He forgot about that, messed it all up while swimming. Kono will be pissed.

"It's a small skin laceration. Noting more..." he tries to avoid her touch as she grabs his hand and starts to peel off the remains of the wet bandage. "It's nothing mom, really..." he tries to argue, but she pulls him to the table and starts to work on his damaged knuckles, ignoring his protests.

"It's a nice and thorough work" she mumbles from above his hand "were you in the hospital?"

"No, of course not" he says quickly. "Kono made the dressing..." he really tries to sound nonchalant about it. By the look his CIA operative mother has on her face, she can see right through him. He begins to remember why he was always in so much trouble growing up. She always found out about his stupid stunts. Honestly, he should take her on his team. Put her in charge of the interrogations. He should try to offer it to the governor once this whole mess is over.

"What's with the bag?" she asks, still hunched over his hand, not even looking his way.

"Catherine's things" he says quietly "she'll come to pick it up in a day of two..." she stops her activity, and looks astonishingly at him "we broke up" he shrugs, trying to make it sound as matter-of-factly as possible.

"It's a small bag" Doris says, returning to her task.

"Yeah..." he says, looking at the small bag that contains the remains of his six years relationship with Catherine.

"Much smaller than the bag you prepared for Kono for the safe house."

"Of course it's smaller" he says with confusion. "That other bag was full of weights. It was big and heavy and..."

"I know" she cuts him off. "With Kono it's much bigger and much heavier. I'm so happy for you."

It's a good thing his mother knows him well enough, even after so many years of separation, than to expect any sort of response to her last comment. He mumbles a few thank you words for the medical treatment, and makes his escape. Just before he starts the engine, he thinks he can hear her laughing.

()()()

When he gets back to the safe house he finds the rest of his team there. They all sit around the dining room table with Donaldson's folder, and Kono's computer. He closes the door behind him, and it's only the four of them. He can't help but smile at the new sense of confidence and safety it gives him. He takes a sit next to Chin. Danny and Kono sit opposite them. He looks at the three of them with satisfaction. They are all there, ready for work.

Apparently, he is the only one who is actually ready for work. His team still needs to take some things off their chests first.

"Where have you been?" Danny asks, looking at him from behind the table.

"I had to take care of something." he says quickly "tell me what you've got."

"You look weird." Danny ignores him "doesn't he look weird to you?" he asks the cousins.

The three of them look at him with curiosity for a few moments.

"Your bandage" Kono says suddenly "you have a new bandage."

"My mom" he says quickly, and he can feel the heat spreads on his face and neck, what the fuck? "my mom fixed it for me." He hopes he doesn't sound as apologetic as he feels.

She looks at him with suspicion, searching for a sign of dishonesty on his face. Why the hell should she care, anyway? she can't explain it, but she does. Most violently. When he mentions his mother, she can practically swear she feels a sense of... relief. She's losing her mind here. Obviously. Too many days in confinement with her three teammates. Could have happened to anyone. Really.

"You look satisfied" Danny says from the other side, forcing Steve to take his eyes off of Kono and try to concentrate on his partner. It's easier said than done.

"I'm very well, thank you Daniel." Steve declares seriously "will you please tell me what you found in the files."

"Not yet" Danny dismisses him "why did you go to see your mother?"

"I've missed her?" Steve asks hopefully.

"I sincerely doubt that" Danny says.

"I've missed my house?" he tries again.

"It's a possibility" Danny muses "I can honestly believe you'll have stronger feelings towards a house than towards another human being, even if she's family."

"Great" Steve says in relief "can you tell me what you've found, then?"

"No" he clarifies again "why would you look so satisfied after seeing you mother? I thought she was driving you crazy."

"She's actually not so bad" Kono says from next to the blonde interrogator.

"Who? his mother?" Danny looks at her like she'd grown an additional head.

"She's tough and infuriating at times, and I can definitely see where Steve got his nice manners and politeness from. But when you actually talk to her, she's not that bad."

"She's awful." Danny contradicts animatingly.

"She's... challenging" Chin tries to prevent further escalation "but if you know how to talk to her, you can actually get along fine."

"So it's my fault?" Danny looks at him with anger.

"Yeah babe" Steve says, feeling much more encouraged with the cousins' support "I don't think she likes you very much. She finds you very annoying."

"She told you that?" Danny asks, mortified "what the hell? I'm a great guy. Why doesn't she like me? I really hope you've defended me..."

"I don't think I'm the right man for the job" Steve says seriously "I find you quite annoying myself..."

"Well, _I have never_..." Danny starts as all three of them look at him with trepidation.

"Relax brah" Kono puts a calming hand on Danny's arm "she's the boss's mother, of course she wouldn't like you. I mean, really. You're dating her own pride and joy, what a mother in law would..."

"You know Kono?" Danny looks at her with contempt "You're not as funny as you think you are. Probably lost your sense of humor from hanging around Steve too long. Will you all please stop messing around and go back to Donaldson's files?"

()()()

It looks like a bunch of numbers. It looks like a bunch of a lot of numbers. When Chin and Kono manage to upload it to the system, and to compare it with the transactions in the National Bank of Hawaii, the numbers are getting the form of money. A lot of money, in several bank accounts.

They have all of Adam Noshimuri's bank accounts details. His travelling record, his attorneys, business partners. Kono's meticulous work is so detailed and organized, it takes them no more than an hour to match the transactions with the already known bank accounts. It takes them half an hour more to realize that a lot of money came out of Adam's bank accounts and went to only two other bank accounts, in different banks. Foreign banks. When Chin finishes his conversation with the Japanese task force, they realize those two bank accounts lead to two people in Osaka. One is of them is Takeo Nakahara, the new Yakuza golden boy, and their immediate suspect. The second one is unknown. No name, no location. Chin estimates the total sum of the transactions is around 4.5 million dollars.

"Adam paid Nakahara?" Steve asks "why? what was he buying? and why would Nakahara kill him and lose all this money?"

"The money was moved regularly. Twice a month" Kono explains "the last transaction was two months before Adam's murder."

"Maybe Adam was paying him off?" Chin suggests.

"Nakahara was blackmailing Adam?" Steve looks at him questioningly.

"Adam refuses to pay, stops the transactions and becoming a target for Nakahara." Chin explains his theory.

"It doesn't make any sense" Steve mumbles "if Nakahara was blackmailing him, and Adam refused to cooperate, than Nakahara's response should have been to do what he was threatening to do in the first place, not to cut off the origin of his income. What about the other bank account?"

"Still active" Chin says.

"Active?" Steve looks at him in alarm "what do you mean, still active? Adam is dead."

"Last transaction was done two days ago."

"The day Donaldson died." Danny says.

"Donaldson was operating the transactions, even though he knew perfectly well Adam was dead?" Steve looks at Chin incredulously.

"Sure looks like it."

"A name" Steve stands up, slamming his hands on the dining room table, making everything jump "we need a fucking name."

"I can't get anything from here." Chin explains "the Japanese, they'd have to..."

"Not good enough" Steve shakes his head "I need one of us to go there."

"I guess I can ask Rachel to cover..." Danny starts.

"No." Steve shakes his head "Chin, how's your Japanese?"

"Pretty bad" Chin looks at him steadily "I can speak some, order a decent sushi, and I can read a daily newspaper if I have to."

"Good enough." Steve stands up, arms crossed "I want you on the first plane tomorrow morning. I'll get their cooperation using the governor's influence." He sees Chin's eyes resting on Kono's silent form in front of him. The two cousins look at each other silently, but he can see the way they communicate without a sound. The connection they have is so strong, there's a small pang of envy in his chest when he watches them looking at each other like that. "I won't let her out of my sight" he tells Chin quietly, putting his hand on the older man's shoulder "I promise. Nothing will happen to her while you're gone."

()()()

When Danny and Chin leaves, they put aside all the papers, and clear the several coffee mugs from the table. They never speak, or look at each other, and it feels... comfortable. It's the first time they're alone together since their kiss this morning, and since he broke up with Catherine. He wonders if he should say anything.

"Emmm, Kono" he says eventually when everything is clear, and she looks like she's about to go to bed "about this morning..."

"It's fine, Steve" she says quickly, sending a tight little smile towards him, and making her way to the bedroom.

It's fine. He stands in the kitchen, confused. Fine is good. Right? He should be glad. Well. He is... glad... that it's fine. Only... what the hell is that supposed to mean? What exactly is so fine here?

"What's fine?" he knocks on her closed door, shouting his question.

"It's _all_ fine" she calls from inside "don't worry about it."

He doesn't get it. Or she doesn't. He presses on the handle but the door is locked.

"The door is locked, Kono" he calls out.

"I know" she confirms from behind the door "it's the safest way, babe. Trust me."

()()()

He wakes up to the sound of footsteps outside, on the stairs. It's 05:45 in the morning, much too early for Danny to show up. He jumps off the sofa, still fully clothed after slumping exhaustingly on it last night, and reaches for his gun. He walks quietly towards the door, holding his breath. He glances towards Kono's closed door, happily remembering that it's locked. She'll have an additional protection, even if it's a weak and inconsequential one.

When a key is turned on the other side of the door, and the handle moves quietly, he pulls the door sharply, and grabs the unknown person behind it into the room, slamming him against the wall. His gun is pointed to the guy's neck, even before he realizes it's Chin.

"Chin" He exhales in relief.

"Good morning to you too, Steve" Chin rubs the back of his head that was hurt when he was crashed against the wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kono stands there in her ridiculously short shorts and her tiny tank top, holding her gun "why are you trying to kill my cousin?"

He moves his eyes all over her body. He is still a bit excited with the force of adrenalin, so he can hardly hide his dirty thoughts when he sees her like that. The gun in her hand turns him on even more, it almost makes him drool on the floor.

"I'll put something on" she mumbles, and makes a quick retreat towards the bedroom. When he looks at Chin, the guy sends him a furious look. He really doubts it's only because of the blow to his head.

()()()

"What's up, Chin?" he asks again when they all stand in the living room "I thought you had a plane to catch."

"The next available seat is on the afternoon flight. I'm leaving for the airport today at 2 PM."

"Oh right" Steve says, a little disappointed with this unexpected delay "so why are you here? it's too early even for Danny's shift."

"I got a letter" Chin says seriously.

"A letter?" Steve looks at him curiously as he pulls a folded paper from his back pocket.

"Yes. I got a letter from Kono's mother."

"Shit" Kono gasps in alarm as she reaches for the paper "what happened?"

"She saw something" Chin explains gently.

"She saw someone hanging around my house. A black sedan with a man in it. The same guy came to my parents house and introduced himself as a gas company employee who came to look for gas leaks" Kono says reading from the paper.

"She could only identify one person" Chin continues as Steve looks with astonishment at the cousins "there were some strange phone calls from people looking for Kono, but the family stuck to the plan, and told them Kono was on vacation in Australia."

"She wrote all this in a letter?" Steve asks, doesn't quite able to wrap his head around this strange conversation.

"Of course she did" Kono rolls her eyes at him "she couldn't go see Chin and take the risk of exposing his connection to Five-0. She couldn't call him either, because she was worried the lines were tapped. She used the most secured way of communication modern society has to offer."

"A letter?" Steve asks, finally seeing some sense in all this.

"The _US mail_" Chin and Kono says together "_nobody can tap the US mail._"

"That's brilliant" Steve smiles.

"There's more" Chin says, as Kono turns to the other side of the paper "she went to Kono's house and opened the curtains in the bedroom. She left a new rug in front of each door. When she came back the next day, she found some dirt on the new rug in front of the back exit. Someone got in. Someone is watching the house."

"You told her to do this?" Steve asks, obviously impressed.

"No. It was her idea" Chin shrugs.

"What exactly does your mother do?" Steve looks at Kono with astonishment. Is she a secret agent, military, police, counter intelligence?"

"She's a high school teacher" Kono smiles proudly "_a very good_ high school teacher."

"I should offer her a job..." he mumbles, grabbing the letter from Kono's hand. At the bottom of the letter there's a small paragraph where her mother writes how worried she is, and how she misses her daughter. It's a very short and carefully written paragraph. It's full of love and emotion. He looks up at the two cousins. They all know what the new revelations mean. Judging by her letter, Kono's mother knows it too.

()()()

"What do you mean _being proactive_?" Chin asks her when she stands there in the middle of the living room and looks defiantly at the both of them.

"We can't just sit around and wait until he finds me. We need to take action" she explains simply "We need to close the perimeter slowly, and capture him there. It's a lone operative, and he knows what he's doing. We need to surprise him, make him move and declare himself. We will never catch him if he stays low."

"No. It's a suicide mission." Chin says, raising his voice a little bit, watching his young cousin with burning eyes.

"I can't stand being here anymore. It's the first time we have a lead on them. The first time we know about them before they realize it. We have to act, now."

"Donaldson's shooters might have joined him. We have no idea what we're up against." Chin shakes his head in protest.

"It's our only option to turn things around. To have the advantage." Kono says pleadingly.

"Please, Steve" Chin turns to their leader "it's too dangerous."

"I know" Steve says, putting his hand on Chin's shoulder "but we have to do something. They're closing in on us. We have to take the initiative."

"You're both crazy" Chin says, shaking his head in despair "you'll have her walking casually towards her house, exposed to potential shooters, without any defense, just for us to be able to catch them red handed, _after _they shoot her?"

"We'll have the perimeter covered with SWAT team operatives, Five-0 and HPD. She'll wear a Kevlar vest, you and Danny will coordinate the teams, you'll be behind the gun. If someone makes a move, you'll shoot him. Apart from Kono, you're my best marksman. You can shoot him, even before he has the chance to breathe."

"What about you?" Kono asks curiously.

"I'm walking with you to the house, obviously" he tells her, shaking his head in amazement at the apparently stupid question.

"It's too dangerous, you should stay away with the others and look for him..." she starts.

"If you think I'm letting you make your little stroll in _the valley of death_ on your own, you're delirious" he notifies her.

"I have to say, I hate everything about this plan" Chin sighs.

"_Me, too_" they both say simultaneously.

()()()

It takes them 3 hours and all of Danny's kindness and friendliness to get everyone on board. Steve's instinct to boss everyone around, and to spit instructions and orders where ever he goes is a good enough method in normal days, but with this hard and lengthy case, and with the fact that all of the island's law enforcement branches are working full gas for days now, requires a more... _elegant touch,_ Danny's ability to make friends and to portray an acceptable level of respect and politeness towards the different chiefs, helps quite a bit.

"You don't have to kiss the chief of the public works authority's ass just to get him to fake a block on the road around the neighborhood, you know" he spits towards Danny, when they get out of the guy's office, with a promise to handle the exits from Kono's neighborhood in a discrete manner.

"I actually do" Danny explains patiently "the last time we worked with them we stole a tow truck, crashed it into an overhead power transmission line, and had half the city in complete darkness during the holidays season. I should have probably brought him flowers."

"A little solidarity wouldn't kill anyone" he mumbles under his breath.

"No" Danny agrees "it wouldn't. You on the other hand... the jury is still out on that one."

()()()

He goes back to the safe house, to let Chin join Danny, and to get Kono ready for the operation. When everything is ready, and Chin and Danny call to inform that they are all in position, and he can be absolutely sure that everything was done in the most discreet and inconspicuous way possible, he hangs up the phone and turns towards his beautiful and courageous subordinate. It's time. They put on their Kevlars, and he makes sure everything is fastened in the right way. They check out their guns, and the extra clips. They go, one more time, over the direction of progress and over the positions of all the forces involved. Her head will be exposed, unfortunately. He explains again the way he's going to cover her from behind. They stand there in front of each other, looking silently at the white room that was their house in the last few days. They're going to do it. No way back now.

"Won't he find it weird that I'm wearing a Kevlar?" she asks for the fifth time.

"I don't care how weird he'll find it. He won't miss the chance to try and kill you."

"No he wouldn't" she nods "I wouldn't, either."

"He'll never get you, Kono." he says quietly "I'll never let him."

"I know" she smiles "thanks."

"Thank me _after_" he smiles brightly at her "now, let's go."

When they climb onto his truck, and he turns on the ignition, it takes her a few minutes until she realizes what they're listening to. It's a loud music. When she takes a look at the dashboard she realizes it's a CD.

"Hey Brah" she looks at him weirdly, trying not to laugh "have you been listening to Lady Gaga?"

"Well..." he looks at her somewhat embarrassed "she's not Springsteen, or even nearly half as good. But she's pretty talented in her own special way..."

"Jeez, Steve" she laughs uncontrollably now "forget about keeping me alive today. After seeing this, I really feel I can die in peace."

She keeps laughing the entire ride to her neighborhood. He looks at her worriedly from time to time. He doesn't find it at all funny.

()()()

They reach the exact place and he cuts off the engine. A quick look around the perimeter doesn't reveal anything. Perfect. They keep radio silence, only sitting there, watching the clock. When it's 11 AM, it's time. He nods towards her, and they get out of the car. He lets her walk in front of him. His gun in his right hand, his left on her shoulder. They make their approach with a steady gait, not too fast, not too slow. They can see the house, a thousand feet from them, there's no sound. Eight hundred feet, seven hundred. He looks around him, there's no movement. Are they going to fail? they are so close to the house, they can see the blue door in front of them. Three hundred feet, two hundred...

He can feel the shot even before he can hear it. He feels the bullet hits his Kevlar vest on his left upper back. The next second all hell breaks loose. He grabs her, and pushes her quickly towards the house. she pulls out her gun, and shoots the locked door, making enough damage, to enable them to crash through it. There are gun shots all around them, as they lie on the floor, bullets whistling in the air, breaking vases, plates, damaging pictures, and furniture. He lies on top of her, forcing her down, and trying to protect her from the debris. They are covered with broken glass, and dust, and they can hear the electricity in the house explodes when a stray bullet hits the power line. It never ends. It never fucking ends. The bullets keep coming, and he can hear shouts and calls from the people outside. He searches for his radio, but it's nowhere to be found. She tries her cell phone. Nobody answers. It's fucking ridiculous lying there on the ground with nothing to do. It takes at least five or six minutes until the shooting stops. They look at each other questioningly, before slowly raising their heads and looking around them.

"Are you OK?" he whispers to her, still lying on top of her.

"Hey Steve, Kono, you OK in there?" they hear Danny's call before she has the time to answer.

"We got the shooters" Chin shouts from outside, too "they're dead. All three of them."

"I'm great" she smiles towards him, still pinned to the floor by his heavy body. He only leans down and holds her tightly against him, hugging her with relief, and happiness, and love. He can hear her whimper under his embrace, and he breaks away from her quickly, worried that he's crashing her or something.

"No" she mumbles, her eyes closed, as she pulls him again towards her "don't leave me. God Steve, it's so good. You smell just like the sea."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **So sorry for the delay. Coming back now to where we left off. There is a lot of information in this chapter, in order to advance the story line a little bit, but not a lot is actually happening.I hope you'll still like it. It's getting somewhere eventually. I swear.

Thanks to **quisinart4** for the great resilience in listening to me bitching constantly about my lack of inspiration.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

They get in the house to find them still lying on the floor, covered with dust and debris. When they move quickly, thinking the worse, they practically pull him away from her before he has time to say a single word. In a matter of seconds they are both standing, and thrown into a series of hugs and back clapping with their relieved and happy partners.

He goes out with Danny to look at the bodies and to coordinate the clearing of the area. They try to seal the neighborhood, and to keep the press away for as long as possible, but the scene is already starting to be filled with neighbors and passersby. He is very satisfied to count only two mildly injured cops and three SWAT team members, in practically the same condition. The highlight of his findings is definitely the three Yakuza members' bodies lying on the ground.

When he finishes dispensing his instructions, and thanking each and every chief he can lay his eyes on, for the cooperation and the great efforts they took, and he feels safe enough to put away his gun, he looks at his partner beside him, and smiles for the first time this week.

()()()

He feels lighter somehow, and happy, and back in control, when he and Danny are walking back to Kono's house. When they get in, they can hear the two cousins doing collateral damage assessment.

"I'm sorry, cuz" he tells her gently "I guess the fire power was more than we've bargained for."

"My walls look like colanders" she mumbles "they have more holes in them than _actual wall_."

"We can fix it. Probably..." he tries to smile at her kindly "I'm sure it will all be fine."

"Yeah?" she looks doubtfully around her. They all do. It's a fucking mess.

"Oh well, I guess it's only _things _that were damaged..." she sighs in resignation "but it looks like I'll probably need to find someplace else to crash in for a while. At least I don't have to go back to the safe house..."

He exchanges a worried look with Chin. The older man looks at him pointedly, expects him to speak. It's really kind of the guy. Really. Instead of taking the responsibility and break the bad news to her, himself.

"Listen, Kono..." he starts hesitantly "it's still early to say if it's really over..."

"_What_?!" she looks at him in alarm "what are you talking about? the shooters are all dead. It's over. You promised..."

"They _are_ dead" he says quickly "but we don't have a final identification yet, and if there's something this case told us, is that we need to play it safe."

"I'm not going back to the safe house!" she shakes her head desperately looking pleadingly at the three of them.

"You don't have to" Steve says quickly "we'll think of something else."

"You can stay with your parents" Chin says immediately. Making her look at him like he's crazy.

"Is this some kind of a joke, cuz?" she asks him "no way in hell. You're out of your mind. Anyway, they were followed by the Yakuza. I don't want to put them in this position again. I can stay with you..."

"I'm off to Japan, in two hours" he tells her "remember?" Before she has the time to offer, he says "you're not staying alone, in my house. If your family was followed we have to assume, my house was followed too. It's not safe."

"You're staying with me" Steve says decisively "not even looking at her, just checking something on his phone.

"No way in hell" she protests after a few seconds of pure shock. But by the time she manages to actually wrap her brain around his statement, and respond to it, he is already speaking on his phone with someone, not even listening anymore.

"It's a big house, close to the sea" Danny tries to console her "it's not that bad, I stayed there myself. You'll be fine."

"Yeah...?" she looks at him mortified "but now he's living there with _his mother_... it's a completely different ball game... I think I actually rather go to the safe house after all..." she whispers.

"You're a god damn hypocrite" Danny notifies her "after the three of you were all over my case, claiming she was nice and actually a lovely person, now comes the truth!"

"Jeez, Danny" she mumbles "it's wrong in so many levels. You have no idea..."

He only looks at her seriously for a few seconds "I actually do."

()()()

"Kono! Darling!" there's a cry from the door. It's coming from a tall Hawaiian woman, accompanied by an even taller and bigger Hawaiian man.

"Mom! Dad!" she smiles broadly "I'm all right."

They run towards her, and grab her into a tight embrace one after the other. They smile silently towards each other with love and relief. Her mother strokes her dirty hair aside, and kisses her cheeks, before she looks around her at the whole mess.

"Chin ho" her mother notices her nephew suddenly "are you all right? and your friends?"

"I'm fine. We're fine, auntie" Chin answers, before they hug him too.

It's a matter of exactly two seconds that the happy and relieved atmosphere in the ruined house changes. Her mother lets her go reluctantly, puts her hands on her hips and runs her eyes all over the room. She scans the room silently, cocks her head to one side, sticks her tongue in her cheek, and shakes her head. They all look at the tall, beautiful, dark haired woman. She is the spitting image of their young teammate. The similarity is simply uncanny. They even move the same way. But when the woman's eyes lay on Steve's figure and the curious look he sends her, the similarity practically ends. Her expression becomes serious and even _severe_, and as she watches him suspiciously and makes a step towards him, she coughs quietly and starts speaking to him. It's crazy, but her voice makes the blood freeze in their veins.

"You must be McGarrett" she says more than asks.

"Steve McGarrett" he says quickly, unknowingly stretches to a proper military stance "please to meet you" he says extending his hand.

She doesn't respond to his stretched out hand, only cocks her eyebrow curiously "well well, _Mr. McGarrett_. Just the man I was looking for. Can we have a few words?"

"It's _commander_, actually" he mumbles quietly "I'll be..."

"You don't have to, Steve" Kono calls from behind him "mom, please. There's no need for..."

"That's quite all right, Darling" her mom says decisively "I'm sure your _boss_ doesn't mind."

"Not at all ma'am" he coughs nervously. He can actually think of at least twenty five things he would rather do at the moment.

"Good" she smiles tightly "darling?" she indicates to her husband, "after you young man" she pushes Steve determinedly outside of the house.

"What are you so stressed about?" Danny asks her when they stand at the window watching Steve talking to her parents "what's the worse they can do to him?"

"You have no idea..." she mumbles "they'll eat him alive."

"The guy was captured and interrogated by the Taliban, was tortured by Wo Fat in North Korea. I'm sure he can handle a high school teacher and a... what's your dad's job?"

"He's a psychologist. One of the best psychologists on the island."

"Oh" Danny looks at her, horrified "I can see your point. He's totally fucked."

()()()

Steve is a better negotiator than they probably give him credit for. Because he is able not only to survive what looks from afar as a very thorough and aggressive interrogation, but also to persuade his prosecutors to go home without suffering any casualties. When the three make their way back to the house, Kono's parents are hugging her affectionately, and making her promise to call them as often as she can, before they give their blessings to the rest of the team, and leave. Nobody misses the warning glare Steve gets from her mother before she walks out, and the curious and mildly amused look he gets from her father, too. He looks back at the rest of his team, seeing their questioning looks, and says "what are you all looking at? we have a lot of work to do. Chin, you still need to make it to the airport, Danny I want you to start with the bodies, and go talk to Max. Kono and I will clear the safe house and go through the remaining files. Go on!" he raises his voice in annoyance when nobody moves "Kono, you have about three tons of paperwork with your name on it back in HQ, you'd better get in gear."

"Fine" she spits irritatingly at him and his overly bossy manner "I'll go pack some clothes before we leave."

"Clothes?" he calls after her when she makes her way to the bedroom "how can you _possibly_ need more clothes?" She only turns around slowly, and stares at him, with her eyebrow raised in a not entirely unthreatening way. It's chilling, and after seeing her mother, they can all see exactly where she got this specific expression from. "Shoes" he back paddles quickly "don't forget to take some shoes... you definitely need more shoes..."

"Interesting..." Danny murmurs when she disappears, behind the bedroom door.

"What is?" Chin asks curiously.

"How long do I have. I mean until Grace will transform into a capricious, emotional, and unreasonable creature like the rest of the _women race_."

"Kono was a really sweet girl when she was Grace's age." Chin says thoughtfully "she became more... emmm... _opinionated_ when she was sixteen and started dating."

"Oh" Danny sighs in relief "in this case I'm in the clear."

"You are?" Chin smiles.

"Of course. Grace is not going to date anyone until she's thirty. And even then, I would still do my best to prevent it."

"Yes..." Chin murmurs quietly "that was my thinking too. I even had the pleasure of beating up some of the more _objectionable_ boys that were crowding around her. Unfortunately teenage boys has their own appeal to young girls. I couldn't fight all of them, at the end."

"Yeah" Danny nods vigorously "teenage boys are the worst." They both look at Steve accusingly.

"What?" he looks at them in annoyance "what did I do?"

"Nothing yet!" Danny spits towards him "but admit it. You are the closest thing we have to a teenage boy around her."

He looks alarmingly at his teammates. The problem is he can't even argue. The last time he had such dirty thoughts and explicit dreams about a girl was at the ninth grade, when he was obsessed with Jenny Feldman.

()()()

"Take this to the car" she throws a bag at his chest suddenly "I'll go get my board."

"Yes your majesty" he says formally and makes an exaggerated bow. By the small smile she lets form on her lips, he can see she doesn't really mind the new title.

It's about five seconds later that they hear her furious and devastated shriek from the front of the house.

"Oh shit" Danny cries "she's probably just seen they shot the board."

"OK." Chin claps Steve's back reassuringly "I'll be going now. I have a plane to catch."

"Yeah" Danny runs after Chin to the door "I'll go start with the bodies... time is pressing after all..."

"Wait, guys! No!" he calls after them in alarm.

"Look at the bright side" Danny shouts behind his back "at least the suspects are already dead. Just imagine the paperwork if she'd shot them in cold blood for this."

()()()

They spend a couple of hours clearing the safe house. While Kono dismantles the computer system and gathers all the files, he makes the necessary calls to the US Marshals, the governor and the FBI. He gives all of them a verbal report on the progress made in the last two days, and thanks them for the cooperation and their patience and especially for the free hand they gave him, letting him handle this mess on his own. They all sound relieved and thankful, and he can tell by their voices that he probably used his last credit with them for this. They practically tell him there are no more favors left for him to ask for in the next fucking decade after the last streak. He takes a look at his young teammate, as she sorts out the computer cables and copies the files to the server, in her familiar quiet, happy and calm way, and shrugs. Totally worth it, he decides. No question.

()()()

He wasn't exaggerating in regard to the paperwork. When they get to HQ she finds a small paper mountain on her desk. "Are you sure it's all mine?" she asks in suspicion "I mean, maybe Danny's paperwork _got mixed_ with mine and..."

"It's all yours" he promises her "and Danny won't be distributing his paperwork to you anymore."

"He won't?" she asks skeptically.

"He won't" he insists "and if I'll catch you doing more favors for him, I'll keep you on desk duty for the rest of the year. Are we clear?"

"Yes boss" she says immediately, looking at him in amusement.

"Good" he nods in satisfaction "now. We can probably leave it for tomorrow. We had a long day today, and... maybe if it's too much, I can help you with some of it. Maybe Danny will do some, too..."

"No offence, boss" she laughs at him, and probably at his pathetic way of enforcing discipline in their little unit "but you two are so rubbish at it, you'll just make a mess out of it anyway. I'll take care of it on my own. Don't worry, it will take me no time."

Jeez. This was the exact same argument Danny used. He hates it when he's right.

()()()

They drive to his house in silence. He tried to get a hold of his mother and let her know they are coming, but the insufferable woman doesn't answer her cell phone. She's like him. So used to live on her own and to answer to no one. He finds it extremely annoying. It's very late in the afternoon when they are finally there, carrying in the bags from the safe house, and from Kono's place. He opens the door, and lets her in, and they drop everything on the living room floor.

"Emmm... Steve" she says quietly "would you mind if..."

He looks at her beside him, and sees her staring out through the big window. She is captivated by the beach at the back of his house, her eyes glued to the big blue ocean.

"Go on" he laughs "knock yourself out. I'll take care of everything here."

She doesn't need another invitation. Running outside and shedding off her shoes, her jeans and her tee shirt.

"You can take my board if you want" he shouts after her, but she does it anyway, even before he offers, finding it resting against the back wall. She jumps in the water next to his board, only in her bra and panties. When she dives in, her legs shine in the early evening sun. He stands in the living room, watching her swim and dive and looking up into the reddening sky. He can't move his eyes away from her. Can't even breathe. She's so beautiful.

()()()

It's an hour and a half later when his mother comes back and finds him standing in the Lanai, watching Kono lying idly on his board, her hand skimming the surface of the water, with her eyes closed.

"Why don't you join her?" she ask him quietly, standing beside him.

"No" he shakes his head decisively "she's in her own little world there. There's no room for anyone else."

()()()

"Talk to me Chin" Steve says when they're all gathered around the smart table, looking at Chin's face on the screen.

"Ok" Chin starts " I've met with the head of the task force handling the investigation. They are having a lot of problems here. The case has a very high profile. The combination between the Yakuza and murdered children made the headlines immediately. Public figures are commenting on the subject, information from the investigation finds its way to the journalists. It's crazy."

"I can imagine" Steve says. It took him a lot of effort to keep the investigation here quiet, too. The only reason he was able to do it was his tight connection to the governor, who wanted to avoid bad publicity that will scare tourists away. When he mentioned to the guy that Kono's life was on the line, too should any information comes out, he was more than happy to use it as an excuse to shut the thing up. "Were they able to interrogate anyone, at all?" he asks Chin.

"They called in several of the heads of the Yakuza around here" Chin informs them "they managed to use Adam's phone call records we sent them and to connect him to some of the more important Yakuza leaders in the area. Unfortunately, these people were ready for them. They were stopped by an army of lawyers and public figures connected to these crime families."

"You mean, they are supported by public figures?" Kono asks.

"You have to understand the Yakuza is no longer a small time criminal gang. Calling them _organized crime_, would be an insult to the word _organized_. They run businesses which worth millions of Yen, they are very well connected to public figures, politicians, and law enforcement services. They even run charity organizations and give a lot of money back to the community."

"Real darlings, I'm sure" Danny mumbles.

"They are strong. Almost untouchable." Chin continues "I spoke to the chief of police here. They are very frustrated with this situation."

"Were they able to question Nakahara?" Steve asks.

"Not yet." Chin explains "they consider him as the main suspect. Like we do. They wanted to be ready, when they came to speak to him."

"Lucky for them, we have Donaldson's files" Steve smiles.

"Precisely" Chin agrees "you should have seen their faces when I went through the data with them. It was like Christmas came early this year. Their analysts are looking over it now, getting ready to the questioning."

"I want you there in the room with them."

"Don't worry, boss. They are so grateful, I think they'll let me do whatever I want."

"Good" Steve smiles with satisfaction "what about the second bank account?"

"I'm working on it. The identification is weird. The analyst is not convinced this is actually a Japanese bank account. He runs it through the North Asia region now, and tries to find a connection to open cases and both dirty and clean businesses. It will take some time."

"Fine. Keep working on it" Steve tells him "Kono, it's a good idea to see if we can find this bank account in other countries we have access to."

"I can try Interpol again" she suggests "we didn't ask them about this. Only about the men." She makes her way to Chin's office to get the contact information.

"Steve" Chin says quickly when she's far from the screen.

"Yes?"

"There was another disturbing piece of information I found here."

"Oh?" Steve looks at Danny in concern, his senses in high alert.

"Adam was preparing to go back to Japan."

"He was?"

"Yes" Chin says decisively "he bought a house, and he made arrangements. He had negotiations with his family to go back to Osaka and move into his father's position in the organization. The people here think this is the reason his uncles came to Hawaii to meet with him, before he died."

"He told Kono he was closing shop in the US, clearing the family businesses, clearing the Noshimuri name" Danny cries in fury.

"He was closing shop all right, but he was planning to do it only in the US. He was planning to go back to his home and fix the bases of his father's empire."

"It doesn't matter." Steve mumbles "we already knew he was dirty. It doesn't matter if he tried to be legit or not."

"Steve, he wasn't coming alone."

"What?" Steve looks at Chin with surprise.

"His people. The people in charge of making the arrangement to buy his new house in Osaka. He told them he would be coming with his girlfriend. He gave them specific instructions to prepare the house accordingly. He even made sure there would be a swimming pool there, just for her."

"He was planning... but they were over..." Steve whispers.

"Adam's connections claim it was all supposed to be a surprise of some sort. He was planning to bring her with him when he'd finished all his dealings in the US. Steve, he gave them her name. Kono's name. He gave up her identity to the Yakuza."

"He did?" they turn around to see her standing mortified at the back of the room, watching her cousin's face with eyes full of tears.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Thank you all for the kind reviews and encouragements. Thanks for everyone who reads and follows this fic, the ones who favor and especially to the ones who leave me some words.

**A/N2**: In order to stay as close as possible to the actual events on the show I've tried to summarize everything that is Adam related. I really tried to understand how we actually came to some of the scenes that were broadcasted (mainly the scene on the roof in 02.22). Maybe it's me, but I can't really tell what the hell was going on half the time. So many holes in the storyline... anyway, just a quick reminder (from episodes 02.14 and 02.22): a. Hiro disappeared and Joe White claimed that he hid him away from Wo fat. Adam was willing to stop searching for him after Steve and Joe came to ask him personally to back off. After that, Joe disappeared. b. Steve found Wo Fat in Japan even though he was looking for Shelburne there, and Adam found out about it, no idea how. Maybe through his contact in the CIA? This was obviously not important to the writers c. Adam became Kono's lover and decided to kill Wo Fat after all, for killing his father, even though he promised no to. That was after Wo Fat sent him his father's dead fingers. d. Adam tried to kill Steve and Wo Fat on the roof. e. Adam reappeared and saved Kono's life when she almost drowned (episode 03.01) f. This completely ridiculous and amateur writing is not my fault.

* * *

"I feel so stupid" she says as she sits on the couch in the break room, with Danny by her side, and Steve standing apart from them, leaning on the opposite wall.

"You're not stupid" Danny tells her gently "you're the smartest girl I know."

"Fucking Adam" she says in anger, looking at her hands, that are buried in her lap "I can't believe it. He simply took me for granted. He wasn't even listening when I was telling him how I loved my job, and my home, and my family. He didn't give a fuck when I said I will never leave Hawaii, that I will never stop being who I am. I mean, this was the whole reason I broke up with him, because I felt that my work in Five-0 and the way we were forced to hide all the time, were taking their toll. I don't think he ever considered my wishes, when he was planning his life and trying to answer his own needs. I'm so ashamed."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of" Danny puts his hand on her shoulder "if anyone should be ashamed, it's Adam. I swear, he's lucky he's dead. I would have gladly put a bullet in his head for treating you like this." Steve and Kono both look at him when he says it. "What?" he looks at the two of them in surprise "I've been hanging around Mr. shoot first, ask questions later over there for three fucking years, something was bound to rub off."

"I'm so pathetic" she mumbles again, taking a deep breath, as she's trying her best not to cry in front of her teammates. In front of Steve, to be precise. She suspects Danny has no problem with crying. Hell! for all she can tell he might join her if she starts. She can't stop it, though. Cries anyway. So pathetic.

"You're a kind and loving person" Danny tells her "you always think well of people. You are patient and accepting. Adam had charms, he made you happy, and he was there beside you when a lot of very bad things happened."

She can see Steve bowing his head when Danny says that, taking a big heavy breath. She wonders what to make of it.

"I saw Chin ho's face" she looks at Danny with guilt "he looked so disappointed. Looked at me blankly, like he doesn't even know me anymore. We had so many fights about Adam" she whispers, wiping the flow of new tears "even when he needed me the most, after Malia died. He must hate me, he can't even look at me."

"Chin will be fine" Danny reassures her "of course he doesn't hate you, he's concerned about you like always. It's his stupid face. They make him look like he has no feelings, and that he has ice running in his veins instead of blood. But I suspect he _does_ have a heart after all. I'm telling you, when you check his pulse it's around 200 in normal days. Around 300 when it has to do with you."

"So what's your point?" she has to smile at Danny's description "I'm going to kill my cousin by causing him arrhythmia and possibly a cardiac arrest?"

"Pretty much" he nods seriously "better than having him sit in jail for the rest of his life for killing your boyfriend. Actually, it was very sweet of you to dump the bastard before Chin lost his patience. Even sweeter of Adam to get himself killed so conveniently, to save Chin the trouble. Maybe he was a better guy than we give him credit for."

"You're out of your mind" she laughs, feeling a little better when Danny says all this nonsense so passionately "I still think Chin is furious, tough. Probably Steve is, too..." they both look at their team leader who still keeps his silence at the other side of the room. He leans on the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and he looks at Kono with so much intensity, it makes her involuntarily cringe in her place on the couch.

"I'm not furious" he says at last "Adam was in love with you. He tried to... he was in love with you, he wasn't thinking, he just... got careless." They both look at him in amazement, as he stops talking and moves his eyes all over Kono's form, lingering on her teary face, and her half open mouth when she tries to find something to say. Then he pushes away from the wall, and moves towards the door. On his way out he reaches with his hand to gently touch her damp cheek. "I still need your update about the bodies, Danny" he says quietly on his way out "Kono, you still need to contact Interpol. Briefing in half an hour, guys. Get a move on."

()()()

"OK" Steve says as the three of them stand in front of the screen where they can see Chin sitting in the Osaka police department "tell us about the interview with Nakahara."

"You were right, Steve" Chin says "the money went directly from Adam to Nakahara and served as protection money. Nakahara was extorting Adam. After Wo Fat killed Hiro, Adam's position in the organization was compromised, Nakahara said they were really concerned that he was trying to leave the Yakuza. The treason was one thing, but he also had ownership of a lot of his father assets which he could have potentially moved away, and that would have cost a lot of money to all the players there. Adam was trying to prevent Nakahara from making a move against his family in Osaka. He was buying time, until he could figure out what to do."

"OK" Danny says "so why did Nakahara kill Adam? what went wrong? he came to conclusion that the money was not enough of a compensation to Adam's impending bail out?"

"He stopped paying." Kono says.

"He didn't" Steve looks at her puzzled "we have the numbers."

"He did" she repeats, opening the files on the computer "I've checked it again. The last payment according to Donaldson's records was not completed. The two payments before that, were smaller by half from the original sum."

"Did he run out of money?" Danny asks "why would he stop? he must have known it was dangerous."

"He took a chance? made a gamble?" Steve suggests.

"I think it's something else, Steve" she says as she's scrolling down the files "his uncles came to Hawaii, just two days before he stopped paying." He has to smile, it's good to have her back near the big computer again, where she can do her magic.

"Interesting" Chin says from the screen.

"What is?" Steve asks.

"His uncles? Takao and Hayate? this is what interesting? Kono asks "they were the ones found dead with Adam at his mansion."

"The highest ranking Yakuza members in Osaka for the Noshimuri family" Chin adds "I thought it was weird at the beginning." They all look at the screen as Chin is looking frantically for something on his desk "I can't believe I've missed it, but with all the details from Nakahara's interview..."

"_Missed what_?" they all call from the other side of the screen.

"Takao and Hayate. They've met with Nakahara. Twice. Before they went to Hawaii."

"They... sold Adam out?" Danny asks unbelievingly "I thought family loyalty was a big deal with the Yakuza."

"I think they were looking at Adam as a threat to their part of the organization. Believed him when he said he was trying to become legit, or just thought he wasn't the leader material." Chin looks at the rest of his team through the screen "they joined Nakahara, created a valid excuse for Adam's execution. Helped him to kill Adam, his brother, and the rest of the family, I think they were the ones putting the target on Kono's back. Probably because they had no idea what he told her." Chin sighs when they all look at him nodding. "Adam was the rotting tree branch, they simply cut him off, along with its rotted fruits."

"They were the ones who persuaded Adam to stop paying?" Kono asks.

"That's the idea." Chin confirms.

"Why are they dead then?" Steve asks suddenly, after all of them just stand there for a while. "Takao and Hayate. They were Killed with Adam in that massacre. Why did Nakahara kill his allies? something is missing."

"Maybe he didn't" Danny says suddenly, running to his office and grabbing the files with Charlie's report. "I was actually trying to do some paperwork this morning, _god help me_, and I came across this interesting fact."

"I told you he can do paperwork" Steve tells her seriously "you should really have more faith in him."

"Shut up, Steve" Danny glares at him "look. The bullets. The calibers are all the same. This is why I didn't think it was important at first. But now... Charlie, bless his soul works so meticulously, and he writes here at the end that not all the guns in the scene were recovered. The marks on the bullets are different. Different marks, different weapons. We had so many crime scenes and so many shooters, everything was a mess. Anyway, the reports from the other scenes gave more and more details, so Charlie just put it all in a nice little table. He tried to match the bullets to the weapons, but the work load was so high, he wasn't able to complete it. Takao and Hayate are bodies 4 and 7 from the first murder scene. The bullets recovered from their bodies came from the same gun. The gun itself was left on the scene as well, so potentially it could have been Adam who made the shots.

"That's no proof" Steve sighs "it's a coincidental finding of a gun in a murder scene with at least twenty different weapons and at least the same number of potential shooters. It's not enough. It's all a really nice and lovely little story, but we need at least one piece of concrete evidence to make our case and move on with the... what?" he spits at the three of them when they all look at him dumbstruck as he says it."I thought you'd be thrilled. I'm actually handling it like a real cop..."

"We are" Danny mumbles "I'm so proud. I think I'm gonna cry."

"For fuck's sakes, Danny" Steve grumbles "concentrate. We're in deep shit here. We have nothing..."

"Well, actually..." Kono whispers.

"Actually?" they all look at her "actually what?"

"We have the gun on the scene. We just need to prove it was Adam's."

"Yes. But five of the guns were registered to him. He was the owner of his bodyguards' guns, too." Danny says "it's not enough."

"We can tell which gun was his" Kono says, looking at Steve with a grave expression "We have it registered and examined. From before."

"Right" he looks at her with understanding. "It's HPD protocol to obtain a shooting pattern from every weapon recovered during an investigation."

"When did we...?" Danny starts.

"The roof" Chin says from the screen.

"That's right" Kono says "we've arrested him after he tried to shoot Steve and Wo Fat on the roof. He was released a day later, but his gun..." They all look at her silently. It's a big heavy lingering memory in all of their minds. One of the more challenging points in her arguments with Chin. The most important choice she made in her life. Her lowest, but also her highest point.

"Danny" Steve says, still looking at Kono.

"Already on it" he says producing his phone and calling Charlie. It's a long shot, they all know. It's the only one they've got.

"Thank you" he whispers to her.

()()()

It takes Danny ten minutes to get the confirmation from Charlie. Adam's gun was the one used to kill his uncles. The storyline of the investigation becomes much clearer all of a sudden. It's a good progress. Finally.

"So Nakahara killed Adam and was the one who sent the killing squad after Kono, Bell and Donaldson" Steve sums up. "they were killing everybody, making sure Adam didn't talk and that they're covering their tracks."

"I don't know" Chin says "Kono was a loose end, Bell was risky because he was digging into Adam's business, but Donaldson... he was cooperating with Adam and the Yakuza. Why would they kill him?"

"Maybe it's got nothing to do with the rest of the killings?" Danny says suddenly "I mean, even the method of that specific operation was different. Instead of the usual following and planning, it was a drive by shooting that was arranged in a few hours."

"So... what do you think, Danno?" Steve looks at his partner "what was it all about?"

"_Of course_" Chin and Kono say it together, almost at the same time.

()()()

"It's Chinese" she announces.

"Chinese" Chin nods on the big screen.

"Are we talking take out, here?" Danny asks curiously. These two are talking in this weird way again, starting from the middle of the discussion as if most of it was held telepathically between them. "You know guys... it's rude to talk about people subconsciously behind their backs..."

"What?" they both look at him puzzled "what are you talking about?"

"The other bank account with Adam's payments. It's Chinese" Chin explains. "It belongs to a company called _Xuanlong."_

"_Xuanlong_ - meaning black dragon" Steve mumbles "where did I hear this name before?"

"Black Dragon?" Danny looks at his partner questioningly "is this like some kind of a Ninja thing?"

"It's a shipping company." Chin says.

"Of course" Kono nods "Black Dragon, the ruler of the deep. He lives in the great mystic waters of..."

"Now why would you know something like that, honestly?" Danny looks at her accusingly. Before she has the time to defend herself, Steve's face are getting paler, and he runs to his office.

"Was it something I said?" she looks curiously at Danny.

He comes back a few seconds later holding a black folder, turning the pages quickly, until he gets to the right place. He throws the folder on the smart table, stepping back with a wild expression, holding his head in both hands.

"Jenna's notes" Kono recognizes the papers.

"_Xuanlong _shipping company" Danny reads aloud from the open page "_Wo Fat's_ shipping company. What the fuck?"

()()()

They all look at each other in silence. The spoken name of Wo Fat brings back all the emotions and memories they were very comfortable to ignore for a long long time. The fact that Steve is so affected by this, is the worst thing of all, if you ask her.

"Why would Adam pay Wo Fat?" he shouts as he paces around the room "Adam hated Wo Fat. Wanted him dead for killing his father. Why would he pay him? what can he possibly get from him?"

"Wo Fat's empire was ruined." Chin says from the screen "but his position in the Yakuza. He still had his name there. He is feared. Even Nakahara takes him seriously."

"He needed money? Adam needed back up?" Steve stands in front of Chin, rubbing his face.

"I don't know. Maybe" Chin shrugs.

"Adam was a family man. He loved his father, if he thought Wo Fat killed him... he would never..." Kono says quietly.

"We don't really know who killed Hiro, do we?" Danny says suddenly from his place in the table "we know Joe was hiding him in Japan, but that he escaped."

"Adam received Hiro's dead fingers in a box from Wo Fat." Kono reminds them.

"That was what Adam thought, but actually... Why would Wo Fat send it?" Steve asks "why would he let Adam know he killed his father, after Joe and me have managed to persuade the guy to back off?"

"You're right" Chin says "Wo Fat had no reason to alert Adam about something like that... there was only one person..."

"Nakahara" Steve nods.

"If he killed Hiro, and Adam found out, and Adam's and Wo Fat's meeting on the roof was actually their way to make a connection again..." Danny drawls "for fuck's sakes Steve, we even sent them to jail in the same car."

"They must have made a deal. Adam and Wo Fat. The two self elected, future leaders of the Yakuza." Steve says "no wonder Nakahara was so worried."

"So Donaldson's murder was Wo Fat covering his tracks?" Kono asks.

"Chin" Steve sighs "can you go back to Nakahara? see what you can find?"

"Sure, Steve" Chin says before he disconnects.

"Danny, Kono, we need to find whatever we can on Wo Fat's whereabouts. Start with the shipping company, I'll try to find Joe."

()()()

They find nothing substantial, and it's driving him crazy. This, and the fact that he can't find Joe anywhere. He calls old SEALs buddies, official Navy representatives, hell! he even asks his mother, but the guy is nowhere to be found. Chin's attempt to talk to Nakahara will be much later, with the different time zones and all, and Danny and Kono finds nothing on their end, which he has to admit, is not a big surprise. He has to face the fact that after the guy's failed attempt on his mother, he simply vanished from the face of the earth.

By the end of the day he feels so tense and out of control, and one look at his team shows that they feel the same way, he just tells them to wrap everything up, and to go home.

"Can I see you in my office, Steven?" Danny says quietly, just before they leave.

"What's up, man?" he asks when they stand there, and Danny closes the door behind them.

"She had a hard day" he looks at him pointedly "with what Chin said and the fact that all the memories came back again."

"I know, Danny. I'm..."

"And you too, are not exactly the perfect model of emotional stability at this point. I mean, with Wo Fat making another appearance in our lives, and the implications..."

"Danny, it's fine... I'm..."

"Promise me you'll be very careful. Leave her alone, and don't fuck around." Danny pokes him in the chest.

"Danny, I swear. I'm not..."

"Steven, I'm serious. You have to keep your shit together. It's not the right time..."

()()()

They make their way to his home in silence. They get inside, to the dark and empty place, and go through all the mechanics of making dinner, eating and clearing everything afterwards with as few words as possible. They never talk about the events of the day, or about the new heavy burden he carries now. It feels like they both have made a conscious decision to keep it all in HQ and away from the house. Her presence there with him though, her warmth, her smile, the color of her skin when she moves in his kitchen, makes it better somehow. She makes everything feel safe and familiar. When he washes the dishes, and she wipes them dry beside him, he touches her gentle hand momentarily, and it's only Danny's words that keep him from acting on his instinct to kiss her there, at the sink. He takes a big cleansing breath and directs her to the living room, telling her he'll finish on his own. She probably senses the pleading in his voice, because she only smiles and do as she's told.

()()()

He comes into the living room to find her sitting on the sofa playing with the remote. She doesn't watch anything, only zaps between the channels quickly. She looks very preoccupied with this activity, which is impressive considering the fact that he has only five channels, total. He tries to remember if he has any movies they could watch, but he really doubts it. He sits on the sofa too, in a carefully assessed safe distance. Now what?

"Soooo..." he says crossing his arms.

"Yes?" she looks at him questioningly.

"Sooo... what are you up to? wanna do something?"

"Mmmm... what do you have in mind?" she drawls, watching him pointedly from her side of the sofa.

"We can... watch the news, talk about the case, talk about football, play cards, try some... oh the hell with it" he stops suddenly and sends a strong determined arm pulling her leg roughly towards him, when he hovers above her, reaching with his arm behind her back and forcing her up against his body, she lets out a small gasping sound, that's almost drives him nuts. He crashes his lips on her mouth, feeling her sensual lips move against his, in response. Then, all hell breaks loose.

"Steve, we can't" she mumbles, lacing her arms around his neck, returning his kiss forcefully, whimpering at the hunger in which he pulls her towards him.

"Fine" he murmurs, moving his mouth to her neck, and reaching under her clothes.

"We can't have sex, Steve" she says again, her leg around his thigh now, and her arms going upwards to help him remove her shirt.

"We don't have to" he promises "we won't" but he can't help starting to kiss her again, moving his hand on her beautiful bare chest.

"God, Steve, this is so wrong. We need to stop." she moans, pushing him upwards, but still holding him against her, biting her way down to his collarbone, as she's held in his strong demanding arms. Her movements make them fall on the floor, him first, and her crashing on top of him. He hisses when her nails make long painful trails all over his body, while she continues to suck his skin into her mouth. He holds her thighs on top of him, and she climbs up again, to kiss him sweetly, sensually, hungrily, her tongue entering his mouth, and her hands moving to hold his head in one place on the floor. The way he touches her, the way she whimpers on top of him... it's like they are under a spell. They couldn't stop, even if they wanted to...

He stops her, suddenly. Capturing her wrists in his arms, forcing her away for a second when he hears something outside.

"What?" she groans wildly.

"Shhh. It's a car" he whispers. "Shit. My mom. Get up."

They jump up off the floor, and he hands her her shirt, as they try to regain some composure.

"For god's sakes" she mumbles "it's like being in high school all over again."

"It's worse" he tells her sighing when they take a sit on the sofa again, and he tries to straighten his hair and his clothes "she wasn't actually around when I was in high school."

()()()

"Hey guys" Doris says as she steps inside "how are you?"

"_Fine_" they say together, making her burst out in laughter immediately.

"Am I... interrupting something?" she asks, as she stands at the doorway in front of them, looking amusingly at Steve's disheveled appearance and Kono's flushed face.

"Nope" he shakes his head decisively "just watching TV."

"How nice" Doris smiles kindly at her son "must be something really good then, you both look... a bit excited."

Her son only sends her a strong and steady stare, challenging her to continue. It's fascinating. The way they both look at each other in determination, waiting for the other one to crack. Kono moves her eyes from one McGarrett lunatic to the other with sheer mortification.

"Well... It's been a long day" she says eventually. She doesn't think she can handle one more minute of this silent battle "maybe I should go to bed, now." she rises from the sofa.

"Yeah. Long day. Another one tomorrow, too" Steve says gratefully, standing himself. "should go to sleep now. Probably."

"Oh, OK" Doris says with some disappointment "good night then... Actually Kono, I'm going shopping tomorrow, do you need anything? I know Steve doesn't keep certain essentials in this house, like ice cream or chocolate, or other combinations of sucrose and fat. I can bring you some if you want."

"That will be great" Kono says and smiles gratefully towards her boss's mother. "Thank you, Doris. It's very kind of you" they both start to make their way towards the stairs.

"Do you need anything, Steve?" she asks her son casually "maybe some more energy bars, cereals, orange juice, condoms?"

It's a good thing he can hear Kono trying to stifle her laughter the second she says it. It means that she heard it too, and that he's not hallucinating. The fact that it makes her laugh? he guesses that's one way to respond. Personally he's thinking about putting a bullet in his brain, now. He feels it would be the appropriate response.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Thank you all for the kind reviews. This is a very hard fic to write, especially the case stuff. I'm so happy you like it, and don't feel that it's too heavy. I have to tell you, some of your reviews were so sweet and amazing, I was blushing like a school girl. I'm sorry I wasn't able to answer each of you separately, but please know that it means a lot. So, again thanks for everyone who reads and follows this fic, the ones who favor and especially to the ones who leave me some words.

The last chapter was very inspiring, so this one came quite earlier than usual.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

He wakes up in the morning riled up and agitated after tossing and turning in his bed half the night. For god sakes, how is he supposed to sleep, when he _knows_ she is there at the end of the hall, and can still taste her on his lips. She has no problem sleeping, apparently. There isn't even a sound from where she sleeps comfortably in Mary Ann's old bedroom. She's there, oblivious to his turmoil, only 17.2 feet away from him. He knows it's 17.2 feet, you see. He knows, because he had measured the distance during the night. Twice. When he made his way quietly over there, and stood silently against the door, resisting the temptation to press the handle and get in.

When the first rays of sunlight make their appearance in his window, he has enough of this torment, and shoots out of his bed in relief. He puts on his swimsuit and makes his way to the small beach at the back of the house.

"Hi" she smiles brightly at him, when he finds her very much awake and very much standing on the small beach line, watching the waves. The delicate morning wind moves her hair around her beautiful face, and her dimples are showing in the rosiness of her cheeks.

"Hi" he smiles back, standing rooted in his place for a second, trying to temper the rapid beating of his heart. Then he makes one step towards her, and reaches with his hand to touch a strand of her brown hair. Just when he's about to lean down to kiss her... or whisper... or he doesn't even know what, he hears the backdoor opening and then closing, and his mother's footsteps.

"I was just about to go swimming" he sighs, looking apprehensively towards the back door, where his mother tries to disappear back into the house.

"I thought you might" she laughs openly at his apparent awkwardness "well, have fun. Can I make you some coffee in the mean time?"

He can still feel the magical influence she has on his almost shaking body when she says it. It's really kind of her to offer coffee, but unfortunately he has to decline "Oh... don't bother" he says in resignation "this swim... it... it might take a while..."

()()()

It takes her half the morning to read through Jenna Key's notes again. The girl was freakishly meticulous and obsessively organized, so following the data to its sources and mapping her findings is not as hard as it could have been. Well almost. It's not so easy to concentrate when she hears Steve shouting on the phone for three fucking continues hours, threatening US officials and arguing with CIA contacts, when they refuse to help him in his quest to find Joe. His voice sounds more and more impatient and it makes her look at him through the glass from time to time, with growing concern. She catches him throwing a punch at the filling cabinet one time, but when he sees her watching him in alarm from her office, he just nods once, sighs, and sits back down. At the end Danny notices his fragile state too, and walks into his office. She half expects them to start shouting at each other now, but they manage to keep it civilized. That's a sign of real progress, if you ask her. It's half an hour later that she finds what she was looking for. She runs to the smart table and punches a few numbers in... oh yes! this is a touchdown! she smiles.

()()()

"It's not _my_ fault" Danny shouts back at him with annoyance "I only followed _your_ inglorious and borderline fatal plan."

"I know, I'm sorry" he mumbles, rubbing his face "I'm just... we have 19 dead bodies, and no one to interrogate."

"I know, babe" Danny says nodding in understanding "but we're trying to learn about Wo Fat's whereabouts, they probably wouldn't have known anything anyway."

"You're probably right" he sighs, crossing his arms "any news from Chin yet?"

"Still early, babe" Danny replies "what about Joe?"

"Can't find him anywhere, and I can't even think of anyone I didn't already ask."

"Maybe Catherine can help? I mean, with her own resources..."

"I'm not asking Catherine" he shakes his head determinedly "she's out of the picture, actually."

"Really?" Danny turns abruptly towards him "since when?"

"Since... since I found myself wanting to kiss Kono" he shrugs "I thought it was the right thing to do."

It's a real possibility he had never seen Danny speechless before. It's quite extraordinary and even unnerving, to watch him standing there, dumbstruck and astonished. When he keeps looking at him in shock, it even makes him a little worried.

"Hey boss" she opens the door to his office, and sticking her head into the room "I think I found... hey, what happened to him?" she notices Danny's perplexed expression.

"I don't know" Steve shrugs looking thoughtfully at his partner "I think it's the first time in his life he has nothing to say."

"Should we take him to the hospital or something?" she asks coming to stand beside him and they both look at the blond detective who watches them in amazement.

"Nahhh" Steve dismisses "we should probably make the most of it, first. So... you said you found something?"

"Yes" she says, still looking at Danny "I think I know how we can find Wo Fat."

()()()

"She doesn't know, does she?" he whispers towards Steve as they follow Kono to the main room.

"No, she doesn't" Steve confirms.

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"I didn't want to burden her with more guilt, and questions, and complications. She has enough on her mind as it is."

"You're a good man, Steve" Danny looks at him seriously and puts his hand on his back.

"I still want to stick my tongue in her mouth, sooo... probably not as good as you might think..."

()()()

"Ladies and gentlemen" she announces when they come to stand beside her at the smart table "I give you - Xuanlong!" They only watch the screen silently, and then look at each other, and finally at her. They don't get it. "Was it the _ladies_ reference?" she asks carefully "because it was only used for _dramatic_ purposes, and not for anything else."

"No, babe" Danny says quickly, scratching his face "we actually don't understand what the fuck you are talking about. I think you're overestimating our capabilities here."

"Xuanlong" she says again watching at the quite apparent explanation there on the screen "the shipping company? the newly stock market traded Chinese company that is currently under review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission? The one that has to provide the federal government with a detailed and accurate financial disclosure and a _complete_ list of transactions, and personnel...?"

"A complete list?" Steve looks at her with excitement.

"According to the US federal government rules" she smiles "god bless America, and its highly exaggerated reliance on proper protocol."

"Can we get it?" Danny asks quickly "can we get the report?"

"No" she shakes her head in determination "it's confidential. But..."

"The governor can" Steve smiles brightly "I think I have a lunch meeting, guys" he says happily. Then he's off.

()()()

He spends two whole hours with governor, and they are both less than thrilled about this fact. It's lucky that Wo Fat's name still has its impact on the state official, because although reluctantly, at last he is persuaded to help. He has friends in the US senate, friends in Congress, and friends practically everywhere else too. He only has to make some calls to few different heads of few different committees, to do some smoothing and to make some vague promises, until he gets the result. When a fax with the precious data arrives to his personal line, he hands it to Steve, saying "I know it's like hoping for hell to freeze over, but for heaven's sakes Steve, try to keep it quiet."

"I'll do my best, sir" he is happy to promise. The tired and doubtful look in the governor's eyes suggests that he too, finds it hard to believe.

()()()

He gets the phone call from Chin, when he's in his car, on his way back to HQ.

"Did you talk to him?" he asks quickly.

"Yes. It's... he has information" he hears Chin careful description.

"That's good" he says carefully, because he has a feeling it isn't "Chin, what's going on?"

"Steve, I think we should talk about it in person." Chin replies seriously. "There's something we need to discuss, before we go on. I'm coming back."

"Wait, Chin. What is it? tell me..." he demands.

"No, Steve" comes the insistent reply "I want to talk to you face to face. I'll be taking a flight back to the island tomorrow morning, I'll see you when I arrive."

He feels a weird mix of paranoia and anger, after Chin just hangs up.

()()()

It's a lot of information. Names and numbers and dates, and even Kono looks a little overwhelmed with it all. She manages to locate a few of the companies that are mentioned, and to cross them with the database, but she has a hard time finding the heads of the operation, and she can not safely say that Wo Fat's name is not there. They try to find his communication details instead, contact numbers, bank accounts, searching for known and suspected aliases. They can feel that it's there somewhere, but it just feels like looking for a needle in a haystack, when both the needle and the hay are transparent.

They still sit on the computer when Danny gets into the room, and stands above them looking curiously at the way they move the names and the numbers on the screen.

"I don't know why you two insist on doing it yourselves, when we have Bell who can probably do it better. I mean, this is actually his job."

"Peter Bell?" Steve raises his head "we sent him to Britain, he's out of the country."

"He came back to the island, actually. After you notified the US Marshals we caught Kono's shooters, and that we are not looking for anyone else at this point, he demanded to go back."

"Have you talked to him?" Steve scratches his head.

"Yes" Danny says casually "he called last night. Wanted to know if he can get some of his papers back, because he wants to continue with the investigation. He's a real stand up guy, even with Adam dead, he still wants to take it all the way."

()()()

He leaves Kono in HQ, and asks her to try and talk to Chin again. The guy refuses to give _him_ any information, but she is his cousin, she's special. Maybe she'll have a better way in. Besides, she looks drained, and tired from all the digging she'd been doing, even though she swears she's fine. He gives her specific instructions to call Chin ho, to take his truck, and to go home.

()()()

The sight of Bell's face when he looks at the report is probably the most comical moment they had in the course of this wretched investigation. His eyes pop out, his lips stretch into the largest smile they'd have ever seen on a human face, and he looks like he's about to cry. He makes them sit in his office, when he brings his laptop, and four big boxes of papers and folders, and starts to read.

"Peter" Steve says.

"Mmmmm...?"

"Peter, listen..."

"Yeees... ?" he is still looking at the papers, mumbling to himself.

"Peter, listen man. We need you to focus on something."

"Adam was devious" he tells Steve and Danny "he gave me a very detailed, but very selected information about the legitimate aspects of his father's business. This is why I never had the bigger picture. This... Jeez, you have no idea, guys..."

"We actually have an idea, Peter. Wait, will you please listen to me...?" Steve tries again.

"I mean, I had a list of companies but there was no way I could look at all of them. Who knew Xuanlong was the key?"

"Peter, there's a..."

"It starts with X, you see?" Bell looks up at them.

"X? what are you talking about?" Danny asks.

"I had it listed alphabetically. I would have probably get to it around... oh I don't know, next spring?"

"I see" Steve shakes his head, trying to focus "look Peter, Xuanlong is a..."

"Thanks guys. I mean it, this is great."

"No problem, man. Now Peter, listen..."

"Did you know that most of the money of organized crime and even gangs, is actually moved within the legitimate corporations and businesses, and the regular monetary system?"

"That's fascinating" Steve states dryly "listen Peter, we're actually interested in a certain..."

"This shipping company you found, it's like the epicenter of the biggest money laundering operation in north east Asia. Adam's organization is only one of the participants. I can recognize patterns here that were mentioned in several international investigations a few years ago. I can't believe the SEC caught them by sheer luck. I bet they don't even have an idea what this company is all about... I should probably call the treasury department... maybe go there myself... "

"Peter!" Steve shouts.

"What?!"

"We are looking for Wo Fat. He is one of the owners of this shipping company you're slobbering all over, here. Can you help us find where he is?"

"Wo Fat?" Bell looks at him in surprise "the Japanese importer exporter, and of course unofficially, drug lord?"

"You know him?" Steve looks at him in shock.

"Know him?" Bell laughs "I went to interview him a few months ago. I went to see him when he was in prison, tried to cut a deal, to see if he can give me information about some of the companies that were registered to him, and were mentioned in Adam's portfolio."

"And...?"

"He refused to talk, and filed a complaint against me. Next time I know, my boss comes to me and instructs me to keep him out of the investigation. He made some kind of deal with the US and the Japanese governments. The CIA was protecting him. I was _encouraged_ not to ask more questions about anything related to him or to his assets."

"He was still protected?" Steve looks at him in shock "after I finally managed to put the bastard in maximum security prison? they were still protecting him?"

"I guess" Bell shrugs "anyway, I've heard he'd escaped, so... I guess this protection thing is off anyway..."

()()()

"Steve..."

He doesn't answer.

"Steve!"

He still doesn't answer.

"Steven, you're _not_ going to talk to any CIA person. Promise me!"

He doesn't answer. Driving silently, as the sun starts to set on the quiet street they are going through."

"Steve, please..." Danny begs.

"I'm not going to talk to any CIA operative, Danny" he promises "I'm _done_ talking."

"Shit, I knew it. Can we please just wait until Chin arrives? maybe he has more information, that will help us avoid pissing off the US government?"

"I'll think about it" he spits dryly. But there's that distinct crazy glint in his eyes when he says it, that suggests to Danny that not a lot of thinking is actually involved here.

()()()

When he gets to the house he hears Kono and his mother talking in the kitchen. It sounds good, the sound of their happy chatter, and it's getting even better when he hears Kono laughs suddenly at something his mother says. He steps into the kitchen to see them both smiling at him, busy cooking dinner.

"How was it?" Kono asks quickly.

"Interesting" he sighs "I'll tell you later. Did you talk to Chin?"

"No. He wasn't there" she sighs "wasn't in the hotel either, we'll have to wait until he's back."

"Dinner is in an hour or so" Doris says when they just stand there looking at each other silently "go get changed."

"Fine" he nods "I'll hit the shower... emmm... yes" he turns away and leaves.

"He's tired. And angry" Kono says quietly after he's gone.

"You know him very well" Doris smiles "I'm starting to get to know him myself, too."

"What do you mean?" Kono looks at her in surprise.

"It's not easy" Doris shrugs, getting back to the food "I mean, of course there are parts of him that stayed exactly the same. I only have to look at him and immediately, I remember. His facial expressions, his smiles, his hand gestures, and the way he moves his hands in his hair when he's upset. Some of his behaviors too, like the way he gets annoyed when he's tired, or the way he runs around all energetic and hyperactive in the mornings. These things never changed, it feel like seeing him again when he was fifteen, or ten, or even two. But other things... like the words he is using, and the way he looks all grown up, and the way he carries himself with an air of authority around him, these things are new to me. Probably changed with the military training, or the loss, or simply by all the things he had gone through in the last twenty one years..."

"You missed a lot" Kono says quietly "I imagine, it can't be easy."

"I used to dream about him and about Mary Ann, you know?" she looks at her smiling bitterly "I used to spend hours imagining the way they looked, and what they do. I imagined him as a lawyer, and as a doctor, and as an astronaut even" she smiles.

"Astronaut I can buy, but a lawyer?" Kono laughs "not so much."

"I know" Doris laughs, too "it's really stupid. I also used to think about him married, with children of his own, and I really hoped he was happy."

"He's OK" Kono says seriously, looking at Doris "he's in a good place, with people who care about him, doing something he loves and that he's really good at."

"I guess you're right" Doris smiles "thanks for saying it. It's good to hear it from someone else. I keep thinking about "what ifs" all the time, and what would have happened if I stayed and was actually there for him, that I tend to forget the main thing, that at the end he came out pretty well."

"Well... if you were actually here... I guess he might have been more polite towards people." Kono says thoughtfully.

"I know, right?" Doris cries "he's awful sometimes. Definitely my fault! you're right. The tattoos, too."

"The tattoos? what about them?" Kono asks in surprise.

"Believe me honey, if I was here I would never have allowed him to make these ridiculous tattoos. He's a grown man for god sakes!"

"They're pretty cool" Kono mumbles under her breath.

"Right" Doris huffs "you girls are exactly the same, one look at my son's body and you lose your brains. I thought you were less shallow than this Kono."

"I am" she cries indignantly "I only said they were cool..."

"You're being irrational" Doris notifies her "like any other woman in love."

"What?" Kono shrieks "I'm not..."

"Of course you are, honey. Don't be ridiculous" Doris laughs "I know that I'm biased here, but you actually have a good taste."

"I'm not in love with him. We only work together. We're friends. You got it all wrong... and besides, he has a girlfriend."

"Catherine?" Doris looks at her genuinely surprised "they broke up a while ago. Quite lucky for _her_ if you ask me, he was..."

She doesn't hear the rest of the sentence, as she runs upstairs to his room. She's gonna kill him, in front of his mother, in his own fucking house, for neglecting to mention this particular minor detail. The fucking clueless, unbelievingly dense, with screwed up priorities, walking intrapersonal communication disaster, stupid, team leader of hers!

()()()

"Why didn't you tell me you broke up with Catherine?" she cries breathless after she barges into his room.

"What?" he turns towards her in alarm "I... I... I didn't want you to feel like it was because of you..."

"You didn't?"

"No..."

"So it wasn't?"

"wasn't what?"

"Because of me." she mumbles sheepishly, trying not to meet his eyes.

"Of course not" he says quickly "it was because of _me_. I wasn't in love with her, and it wasn't actually going anywhere... and it felt wrong... and I actually was a bit... you know, I kinda took her for granted, and acted like... "

"Like an asshole?"

"Pretty much" he admits, rubbing his neck.

"As we very well established" she says, as she's making her way purposefully towards him "apparently, I have a thing for assholes" she pushes him against the wall, and kisses him with everything she's got. It takes him a fraction of a second to kiss her back, and to hold her tightly against his muscular body, and be carried away by her demanding touch.

"Kono" he mumbles when she lets him breathe for a second, all breathless and trembling "I was lying. I _did_ break up with her because of you..."

"Of course you did" she breathes back, looking at him seriously with wild burning eyes "the smartest move you've ever made."

They kiss again, moving together in a desperate attempt to touch as much skin as they possibly can "does it mean I can have sex with you now?" he asks when he lifts her in the air, and she moans with the sudden sensation of him carrying her so effortlessly in his strong arms.

"With your mom in the house?" she answers biting his neck "no fucking way."

"Kono" he stops and looks at her "I'm a thirty six years old man, I think I can have sex in my own house. "

"I'm _twenty_ six, Steve. And actually _met_ your mother who is currently hanging out in the kitchen and has freakishly good hearing and a pretty good idea where I am, soooo... not gonna happen, baby. Think about something else."

"You see?" he looks at her with annoyance "the fact that I'm actually considering the car at the moment? now _this_ is _exactly_ like high school!"

()()()

The thing is, he didn't have a credit card when he was in high school. Didn't have a reasonable salary paid by the good people of Hawaii, either. So when he tried to get to third base with Jenny Feldman, which by the way he didn't, because the girl was a fucking tease, he had to use the back seat of his father's 1974 Mercury Marquis. The Marquis is in no shape for this kind of activity anymore, and the back of his truck gets disqualified for practically the same reasons, so even though he has a perfectly good and comfortable bed, with a nice view to the ocean, and nice clean linen and a very big lock on the bedroom door, she leaves him no choice but to take her to the _Hilton_.

"We're eating out" he shouts towards the main direction of the kitchen as she pulls him forcefully out the door. Kono can play coy as much as she wants, he has a feeling his mother knows _exactly_ what they are about to do.

()()()

"Please try to remember that I don't really have Adam's resources and financial assets" he tells her when she's all over him again, up at the big room they just rented, and he looks at the luxurious furniture and the much bigger than necessary mini bar in the corner. "I don't think we can afford to do it every day" he mumbles under her lips. She has one hand on his strong muscular abdomen, and the other one is skimming his thigh, in practically nonexistent distance from his groin.

"Well, I have to say" she mumbles "you have _quite an asset_ of your own..." she's obviously impressed, pressing against him with a smile. It's enough to make him stop musing about the financial aspects, to kiss her like crazy, and to carry her to the bed.

* * *

OK guys, next chapter will feature Chin's revelations from Japan. I'm not sure yet, but possibly it will be the last chapter in this fic. We'll see. Thanks for reading.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **

Thank you all for reading and following and favoring this fic. Especially, I want to thank the ones who took the time and left me some words. The reviews and comments and PMs were the greatest gift you could give me. I appreciate the time and the effort.

This is unfortunately the last chapter of this fic. It wasn't easy to write, but I enjoyed it very much. I hope you'll like the ending. Please tell me what you think.

Thanks again to **k****imson10** for the inspiration to this entire fic. Hope you liked the way I played with it.

Until the next time...

R.

* * *

He wakes up with an unexpected sense of warmth around him. When he opens his eyes, he immediately remembers where he is. He takes a look at her sleeping form, she is buried against him, and he can move his eyes to her head that rests on his right shoulder. He lets his fingers run softly on the sensitive skin of her arm that hugs him around his chest. She holds him like that, her leg sprawled on top of his lower body. When he tries to change his posture, he can't because she holds him so close, like she tries to make sure he wouldn't escape. He smiles at the notion, he couldn't even if he wanted to. Which he doesn't. Ever. She has nothing to worry about.

It's a rare opportunity for him to be able to watch her like that, without any interruptions. Her beautiful face are relaxed, and she wears this cute expression, like she's deep in thoughts. He can't help the enormous sense of gratitude he feels towards life, the universe, and everything else for being able to keep her safe during this nightmare.

"What's wrong?" she ask suddenly, as if she can sense the feelings that are stirring inside him.

"Nothing" he whispers, stroking the hair away from her still sleepy face, when she sends him a cautious look "nothing at all."

"Hi" she smiles towards him after a while, moving herself to lie with her chin on his broad chest, looking intently into his face.

"Hi, babe" he smiles back.

She kisses him softly, her arms move gently on his skin, and she hovers above him, dominating his body. Dominating his world. They make love again. Slowly and deliberately, looking into each other eyes. The first ray of sunlight coming from the window, caresses their moving bodies.

()()()

They have a shower together. Well, that's actually might be an overstatement if you ask her. When he offers this specific _aquatic activity_ she has a completely different idea than the speedy three minutes rhythm he forces her into. She tries to argue, sending her hands to specific locations of his anatomy, trying to prevent him from accomplishing his goal. He has the willpower of forged steel, apparently, because he is able to sustain her constant attacks. He forces her out of the shower, into her closes and is a second shy of dragging her ass straight to work. It's when he's on the phone with Danny, who is already at Bell's office explaining there are still no news, that she is able to make a stalling maneuver, and order breakfast to the room.

()()()

They sit on the balcony with a nice breakfast, watching the big blue ocean thirty four stories down. She watches him sitting on the chair, in his usual cargo pants, and blue tee shirt, his hand rests leisurely on her knee beside him, but his mind is in a completely different place.

She thinks about the last few days they spent together. Realizing she had never seen him so tense and unsure. Even when he was in the midst of his father's murder investigation, even when his sister was abducted, or when his mother came back and changed everything. He was able to handle everything, but this time it was harder. It was complicated and long. She could tell only by the sight of him, how he fought to carry everything on his shoulders, her safety, the details of the investigation, the constant pressure from the officials, and from the national law enforcement services... He took it all heads on, fighting for control, and taking the responsibility. She realizes for the first time, what a strong man he actually is.

He's different than Adam. It's like day and night. Because, not _even once_ in the whole course of this awful case, even when he was reaching his limits, even when he was running on fumes, _not once_ did he not put her first.

In all this mess of destruction and death around them, when they lost Donaldson, which she knows perfectly well he still sees as his fault, when his old archenemy, the killer of his father came back to haunt him, he was still protective, and caring, and sensitive to her sadness and to her needs.

She feels so stupid again, as her eyes are filled with unshed tears. This strong, courageous, beautiful man chose _her_ above everything else. She can hardly believe it. She was so blind for so long. And him? Well, he must be fucking insane...

Well _he is_! If she's being completely honest, here. He's overprotective, and bossy as hell, and with damaged intrapersonal skills, and screwed up ideas of how a guy should behave or act... Lucky for him, she's not entirely sane herself, and if anything, she is always up for a decent fight.

"I love you" she whispers silently, because she can't keep it within herself anymore. He is preoccupied with something else, and he doesn't hear her, but he looks at her eventually, when he feels something shifts in the air around them. The beautiful, unique unexpected light in her eyes, makes him smile sheepishly with unease.

"Did you say something, baby?" he asks, trying to shake away his thoughts.

"I asked if you want to tell me about Bell" she says smiling. She'll tell him later. They have more pressing things to do, now.

He tells her everything he knows. Which is not a lot. He tries to be casual and matter-of-factly about it, but she can imagine how betrayed he must feel.

"Let's go to the CIA" she tells him decisively.

"I'm not sure it's wise" he drawls.

"I don't give a damn" she stands up "I want to hear them explain."

"I can't" he can't help but smile at her furious look "I promised Danny I wouldn't."

"You did, now did you?" she shakes her head at his pathetic lack of fighting spirit "well, I didn't..."

()()()

They get to the federal building and are able to flash their badges to gain access to the CIA field office.

"Who are we looking for?" she asks when they're in the elevator on their way to the seventh floor.

"Agent Kendridge. This was the guy who tried to intimidate Danny when we first brought Wo Fat in."

"Aren't we supposed to go to that other agent? the one who helped him?"

"No" he shakes his head "I want to talk to the highest authority. Besides, I think Kendridge is the best candidate for being the son of a bitch who cut a deal with a convicted murderer."

They reach the CIA field office and scan the area around them. There's a big reception desk leading the way to several cubicles and offices behind a large glass wall.

"Where are you going?" she asks when he starts to walk towards the receptionist's desk.

"What do you mean? I'm going to ask where Kendridge's office is."

"Wait" she holds his arm "we don't want the receptionist to call him. We want to surprise him, don't we?"

"What's your point?" he looks at her unconvincingly.

"It's a _man_ sitting at the desk" she whispers to him "I guess it's _my _cue." He rolls his eyes when she smiles mischievously at him, and goes to the desk. It's a flawless tactic, it looks like. She gets the desired reaction when she just stands there, flashing one of her most alluring smiles. When she practically sits on the edge of the receptionist's desk, and moves her hand in her hair, the guy smiles back, and leans back in his chair. He directs her to Kendridge's office, without even looking at the intercom. When she steps triumphantly towards him, he realizes he doesn't appreciate this kind of tactics anymore.

()()()

They stand in front of the closed door. He looks at her, and she nods once. Then he quickly opens the door, barges into the room, picks the guy forcefully from behind his desk and crashes him against the big window, with his face pressed to the glass. She closes the door quickly and quietly behind them, and comes to stand near her boss. When agent Kendridge tries to speak, Steve puts his arm around his neck, presses the guy's larynx tightly, and presses a gun to his forehead.

"Wo Fat" she says quietly, standing close to his ear.

"What?" the agent's strangled voice is heard under Steve's ever growing pressure.

"Tell us about the deal you made with Wo Fat" she explains.

"You are out of your minds" he whispers "do you have any idea what kind of trouble you're getting yourselves into?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but among the three of us, it's _your neck_ that's on the line." Steve hisses.

"He's not trying to be funny" Kono clarifies "he means it in the most literal way."

"What do you want?" Kendridge tries again. They can see he is starting to realize the exact amount of lunacy they seem to possess.

"They never listen, do they?" Kono huffs, shaking her head at Steve.

"I know" he tells her exasperated "and we really tried to be very specific when we first came in. Tell us about the deal you made with Wo Fat, after I dragged his sorry ass and put him in a maximum security prison. Tell me where you stashed him. I need to find him."

"We don't have him" Kendridge whimpers "I swear."

"You're lying. He made a deal with you and with the Japanese."

"Please, McGarrett, you're killing me here..." he cries quietly "let me go, I'll tell you anything you want."

He looks at her questioningly, she can see the guy's red face. She nods to him to let go, but she draws her gun and points it to Kendridge. She's not taking any chances.

"We _did_ cut a deal with him" Kendridge says after he manages to breathe again "he was supposed to give us information about the Yakuza's involvement with terror organizations in north east Asia and China, in exchange for immunity and relocation."

"He sold you some bullshit about terrorist activities?" Steve asks in amazement "I know the guy, I spent three years chasing him. He had never touched anything crazy like that."

"It was right after the explosions in Mumbai. There was a sense that there are areas we weren't covering. The whole intelligence community was looking for connections to terrorists cells everywhere, including the far east. But you're right, it _was_ a lie. He knew we were desperate, looking for anything, and he took advantage of that."

"It's amazing" Kono mumbles "I don't know if they're more stupid or more evil."

"Where is he? where did you hide him?" Steve steps forward looking at Kendridge steadily. They can see the guy flinches with fear.

"We don't have him" Kendridge sighs "we were caught up in red tape. He escaped before we had the chance to move him."

()()()

She can see the way his shoulders slump when he hears it. The way the disappointment is written all over his face. It takes him a second or two before he is able to inhale deeply, to look back up at the still quivering agent and to regain his self control. They ignore the CIA operative's threats to call security, and to have them arrested for attacking him. "You know who I am" Steve tells him calmly, "I suggest that you think carefully before you pick up the phone."

"You are out of your mind, there's no way you can get away with this."

He only makes a swift movement, holds him by his collar, pressing his face into his reddening face again "It's _my island_, Kendridge. I can do whatever I want. Remember that, you fucking asshole." Then he throws him against the window again, and they go.

"I guess you got your answer" he tells her when they walk together out of the room "they're more stupid than evil. They sold out to a fucking murderer, and still managed to lose him."

()()()

When they drive back to HQ, she looks silently at him from the passenger seat. When he senses her eyes on him, he looks back at her. She looks worried. She reminds him of Danny. Well, actually she's cuter than Danny. And she doesn't complain so much, or screams at him for pulling all sorts of crazy shit.

"It's not a big deal" he tells her, as well as to himself "it was a long shot anyway. We're simply back to where we were, half an hour ago."

"Well" she says thoughtfully, as she takes his hand which rests on the console between them and holds it in her own "we had a chance to hit the crap out of the guy who threatened and practically kidnapped Danny, that's something... right?"

"Yes" he smiles brightly towards her "that's the glass half full kind of way to look at it. It was actually kind of fun."

"This one is for Danny, then" she laughs when his usual smile is back.

"For Danny" he nods in agreement "even though... We should probably keep it from him at this point. You know, just to be on the safe side."

()()()

When they get to HQ, Chin is there. She is so happy to see him, she feels all giddy and happy in an instant. She wants to talk to him so much, to clear the suffocating air between them, to tell him about the last two days with Steve, and to promise that everything will be different from now on. He looks tired, and serious, even more serious than usual, it puts all of her senses on high alert. But then he smiles the minute he sees her, it's all the invitation she needs. She hugs him forcefully, letting him hold her close, and she relaxes even more when he whispers how happy he is to see her.

He wants to talk to Steve. Alone. In their little ohana, it's an unusual thing to ask. But there's enough intensity in their older teammate's eyes to prevent her and Danny from challenging this request. When they go to Steve's office and close the door behind them, she turns towards Danny, shrugging, looking to see if he has something for her to do.

He stands against the smart table, his arms crossed, looking at her pointedly.

"What?" she asks casually.

"You know what, young lady" he says, shaking his head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" she mumbles, but she can feel the blush starts to cover her face. She turns to move different files on the smart table, and tries to ignore Danny as much as she can. It's about two minutes of aimless scrolling and browsing of the files on the screen later, that she dares another peek at his face. He didn't move an inch. Still stands there, looking at her steadily, wearing the exact same expression. "What do you want, Danny?" she tries to sound nonchalant about it "stop looking at me like that, it's creepy."

"Yes, it's creepy all right" he agrees. His eyes never move from her face.

"Look brah" she stands in front of him with her hands on her hips "I don't know what it is that you think you're thinking..."

"I'm not thinking anything" he notifies her, still looking pointedly at her from his place at the table. She starts to get angry now, what the fuck is his problem?

"Good" she spits towards him "so just shut up about it."

"I will. I _was_, actually. It was you who made it into a conversation on the first place."

"You keep staring at me like I did something wrong" she complains.

"Well..." he shrugs "_did_ you do something wrong?"

"No!" she cries "of course we didn't!"

He only raises his eye brow when she lets this one slip.

"For god's sakes Danny" she throws up her arms in surrender "we're both gown ups. We can sleep with each other if we want to. It's none of your fucking business."

She storms out of the main room, and into her office, slamming the door behind her.

Danny has this big triumphant smile spread all over his face the minute she storms out. When he goes back to his work, he can't help the happy whistle that escapes his mouth. She was really easy to break, he decides, not entirely without disappointment. He really thought she would be the more resilient one in this little game. Well... what can you do? Now there's just Steve. He really hopes the guy will be a more worthy opponent. He glances at his partner's office. He sincerely doubt that.

()()()

"What's going on Chin?" he says when the door is closed and they stand in his office facing each other.

"Ayumi Kimora."

"Who?" Steve looks at his teammate puzzled "never heard of her."

"Ayumi Kimora is the head of the investigation of the Noshimuri murders in Osaka."

"OK, was she the one you were working with?"

"Yes. I got to know her very well. I got to know she is much more than just a regular detective."

"Ok..."

"She's a special agent of PSIA, the Public Security Intelligence Agency, and considered to be one of the best field operatives they have."

"What is she doing in Osaka then?" Steve asks, his interest elevates by the second "usually they're centered in Tokyo, they work with local field offices in a very similar way to what we have here with the FBI."

"She was specially assigned to this investigation. She answers straight to Toshiro Yanagi the head of PSIA, and her sole assignment is to fight the Yakuza and its leaders. She's been doing it for a while, despite pressure from political figures, threats and intimidations."

"She sounds like quite a lady" Steve rubs his face.

"She is" Chin nods "she lost her husband and her small child when their family car was exploded using a remotely controlled bomb five years ago. The bomb was linked to a certain Yakuza leader who tried to send a message. She found him in Kyoto, two and a half years later, dragged him back to Tokyo to stand trial and managed to build a beautiful case against him and his men, practically demolishing his entire branch of operation, and sending at least fifty eight people to jail for the total sum of about 1000 years."

"So..." Steve says impressed "she's the head of the Nakahara investigation now? because it sounds like they are using their biggest weapon against him. Why are you telling me all this?"

"Nakahara is a big fish. In fact, his code name is "the whale". Ayumi Kimora has been following him for a few years now. When I met with her she said it's the first time they are able to build a solid case against him personally, and not only against the low level functions in his organization."

"I'm glad we could help" Steve looks pointedly at Chin "I'm sure the Hawaiian part of the investigation can be regarded as an extension of their bigger case against him. If she worries about us trying to bring him over, and use the American influence to demand extradition..."

"No. She doesn't" Chin shakes his head "I promised her, we're happy to help, and not looking to make a name for ourselves, or to snatch the case from her."

"Good" Steve sighs in relief "because if this was what you were worried about, I'm in total agreement..."

"No, it's not." Chin shakes his head "I'm here at the specific request of Ayumi. Nakahara knows he's going down. He's not stupid. He offered them a deal. A very unique and tempting deal. She wanted you to know about it, before she gives him her answer."

"What deal, Chin?" Steve's senses are on high alert "what are you talking about?"

"He offered them Wo Fat in return for total immunity."

()()()

He can hardly hear anymore. The noise of the blood boiling in his veins shutting down everything else, for a minute. Chin keeps talking, explaining, describing the findings in the investigation up to the smallest detail, but his mind races a hundred miles an hour, running through all the implications.

"He told them he knows where Wo Fat is. Told them he'll give them his location, his communication means, the names of his men, a list of his liquid assets, even his family." Chin concludes, regaining his boss's attention.

"He's lying" Steve mumbles "the guy is underground, he was Nakahara's enemy, how would he even..."

"Ayumi believes he is telling the truth. He was searching for him himself, and they both come from the same background. She is quite convinced, he's not stupid enough to try and fool them."

"Why are you here?" Steve is pacing around in the room in despair "why would they even asks us... she doesn't sound like the indecisive type, she must have her own answer..."

"She does it as a curtsey. They all know who you are. Fuck Steve, they even have a name for you. They call you the "white typhoon". The legend of you capturing Wo Fat in the first place, dragging his ass back to Hawaii... they respect you..."

"Well... there's nothing to respect" he laughs bitterly "I lost the son of a bitch after less than a month."

"Even so" Chin smiles "you know that Japanese tradition values honorable struggles towards ultimate justice."

"Nakahara can get us Wo Fat." Steve repeats the words again, trying to feel their taste in his mouth "the guy is a shadow, he failed once when I found him, he will not fail again. Nakahara giving him to us, is probably our only chance."

"I know" Chin nods "our only chance. Wo Fat killed your father, he is still threatening your mother's life. He made _you_ a target, he will see you dead in his life time, no matter what."

"Unless I find him."

"Unless you find him."

"Through Nakahara."

"Through Nakahara."

'And in return, the bastard goes free."

"This is why I'm here."

()()()

There is a long lingering, suffocating silence as the two men stand there, looking at each other. The heaviness of the situation is almost tangible. He looks at Chin's face. He looks tired, and older than he really is. He has no idea if it's from the long flight, the hard work or from the conflict they are facing, now. He moves his eyes to the glass door. He can see Danny stands near the smart table, looking at something on the screen. When he looks to the right, _she_ is sitting in her office, moving papers around, and talking to herself, probably blaming her teammates for the enormous amount of paperwork they created in her absence.

He thinks about Ayumi Kimora. She's not doing it from the kindness of her heart. She is well aware of the pull the US government has in Japan. She knows if he only mentions the option of finding a former CIA asset, the murderer of the Hawaiian governor, there's no power in the world that will prevent her from losing Nakahara to the American justice system. She sent Chin to try and make it a matter of honor. Sent Chin to try and plead for the integrity of her case. Only... Chin is not saying anything. He just stands there, solemn, and silent, and leaves it all for him.

"I guess Fergi was wrong." Steve says at last.

"Fergi?" Chin raises his eye brow questioningly.

"Colin Ferguson. My first SEAL team commander, and... my best friend. He was the commanding officer in my third operation overseas. We had an operation in Afghanistan, we were supposed to... well it doesn't really matter. There were fifteen of us, and we completed the assignment and were on our way back, when we were discovered. They started shooting at us, and we had to take cover, and it... it became very messy. Colin got a bullet to the chest, and we had two other dead on the first impact. We have a saying in the Navy "_not self but country_" which we memorize from day one. It has to do with honor, and patriotism, and... anyway we were there in that wretched cave complex, being shot at, and Fergi was dying in front of my eyes. I remember, pressing the bandage so hard, my hand felt numb. I was young, it was my first time under fire, and he was my best friend, not only my leader... I remember looking up at him and telling him it's going to be OK. That Matt is calling the Brits for help, and he should just breathe and hang in there... He was laughing."

"Laughing?"

"He was laughing. Coughing and spitting blood, but laughing. He said - 'I guess it doesn't get more personal than this..."

"What did he mean?"

"He meant that you put your country before yourself, because that's what you're supposed to do. He was shot in the chest, dying in that hot fucking desert, and he was laughing, because he was fulfilling the creed."

"What happened?"

"He died ten minutes before the Brits came and bombed the place to kingdom come. We were pulled out an hour later. We had three dead, five wounded. I was the one telling his mother."

"Why do you say he was wrong?" Chin asks after Steve is quiet and there's this deep, heavy silence in the room again.

"Scarifying yourself is easy" Steve looks at Chin steadily "it's when you sacrifice _your family_ that it becomes really personal."

"I know" Chin whispers after a long, long time when they look at each other with an unspoken alliance. "Sometime I wish it was me... and not..."

"Nakahara killed almost twenty men here, he killed a whole family in Osaka including three children. He was about to kill Kono, and he almost did... The guy is a monster. A cynical, dirty, opportunistic monster. Tell Ayumi she should lock him up and throw away the key."

"What about Wo Fat?" Chin asks quietly "you are throwing away your only..."

"I don't care. I found him once, I'll find him again. I'm not selling out on this. A man has to have his limits."

"OK" Chin nods "I'll call her with the message" he makes his way towards the door, but stops and turns around before stepping out "I'm proud of you, Steve" he says seriously "and I know that your father would have been proud too."

()()()

It's half an hour later when he feels strong enough and collected enough to put this behind him, that he barges out of his office in a new surge of energy. The fucking case is finally over, the biggest bastard is going to jail. There is also still no fallout from his and Kono's visit to the CIA office this morning. He has to admit, he's in a bloody good mood all of a sudden!

He shouts all their names, calling them out of their offices, and they run out immediately, ready no doubt, for yet another crisis.

"What?" Danny looks anxious.

"What's up, boss?" Kono calls out.

Chin doesn't shout. Probably has no physical ability to do so.

"Lunch" he smiles to the rest of them, clapping his hands in satisfaction "I'm hungry, let's go have lunch. I'm buying."

There's a certain amount of skepticism to his last declaration. Danny looks dubiously at him, and Chin looks indifferent, and Kono... Kono is the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth, and she stands there in front of him, smiling.

He walks towards her. Fast. Takes her in his arms, and kisses her forcefully, with love and devotion, right there in the middle of the room. It's Danny's eventual cough that helps him remember that there are other people around. When he finally lets her go, she is all flushed and breathless. She is so beautiful, he almost leans back for more. Instead, he turns around towards Chin.

"Are we going to have a problem, here?" he asks in a serious, determined, somewhat challenging way.

"After she was dating _Adam_?" Chin says immediately "Believe me, you can date her, marry her, make her ten little babies... No Steve, no problem at all."


End file.
